The New York Knicks are going home on the brink.
Powered by another strong shooting night, the miami heat took a 3-1 series lead with a 109-101 game 4 win over the Knicks on Monday. The No. 8 seed, which swept the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, is now one win away from the Eastern Conference Finals.
As usual, Jimmy Butler leads the way with a co-starring role from Bam Adebayo.
Adebayo got off to a hot start with a 9-point first quarter as Miami took a 32–31 lead. He had 16 at the half as the Heat extended their lead to 56–48. Butler's 11-point third quarter helped the Heat take a 90–81 lead heading into the final quarter.
There the Heat cooled off going 1 of 9 from the field. But it didn't matter. He earned himself repeated second chances with 3 offensive rebounds during the stretch, holding New York without a field goal for the first 4:08 of the stanza. By then, the Heat led 95–84 and the Knicks were never able to recover. Julius Randle fouled out on a charge with 3:08 remaining, but New York closed the door on the rally.
As they have done throughout the season, the Heat worked repeatedly, finding open shots and hitting. The team, which ranked 27th in the league in 3-point shooting during the regular season with a 34.4% success rate, entered Monday's game behind the Boston Celtics for the second-best rate in the playoffs at 39.2%.
He relied on his deep ball again on Monday in a high-volume effort that saw him hit 13 of 39 from beyond the arc. It wasn't his best effort, but he made four more 3-pointers than the Knicks. Working to find the open shooter, he repeatedly refused to settle for contested shots.
When he missed, he struck the glass, scoring 13 offensive rebounds of his 45 misses.
Jalen Brunson countered with a 32-point, 11-assist performance despite a concerted effort to deny him the ball. But it was not enough as New York would now need to win three straight elimination games to be eliminated from the series.
Butler led the Heat with 27 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals. He set the tone for the opening bucket of the game with a pull-up 3. Adebayo added 23 points and 13 rebounds.