NEW YORK — The Miami Heat overturned a 12-point first-half deficit and outscored the New York Knicks 58-46 in the second half of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals to steal a 108-101 win at Madison Square Garden.
Jimmy Butler came into the game as the leading scorer in the playoffs, averaging 37.6 points per game in the Heat’s series win over the Milwaukee Bucks. He finished with a team-high 25 points while chipping in 11 rebounds, four assists, and two steals while suffering an ankle injury late in the game.
Josh Hart started for the Knicks for Quentin Grimes and guarded Butler for much of the game, keeping the Miami star in check for the majority of the first half, while the Knicks used a 24-9 run to end the first quarter with a 32-23 lead.
The Knicks had a 12-point lead and seemed to be in control of the game, but poor shooting and a deep Heat roster eventually turned the tide.
“We didn’t close the second quarter well,” said Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau after the game. “In the third quarter, we didn’t protect the basket for the first few minutes, but we fought back to make it a one-possession game [97-94].”
Unfortunately, Miami then closed on an 11-7 run to put the game away for good.
Neither team shot particularly well from deep during the early going. The Heat hit just 7-of-23 from deep in the first half (30.4%), while the Knicks made just 3-of-16 (18.8%). However, the Heat got going 5-of-9 from three in the third quarter and finished the game 13-for-39 (33%) while the Knicks continued to miss shots and ended the game just 7-of-24 (20.4%) from beyond the arc.
“They made 13 and we made seven,” said RJ Barrett after the game. “That’s a big discrepancy to make up, especially in a playoff game.”
In the first half, when the shots weren’t falling for New York, they took to attacking the Heat in the paint, especially when Bam Adebayo was out of the game. New York averaged 52 points per game in the paint during…
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