NBA Playoffs – playoffs – working day 27
He has traveled two very different paths, but the Miami Heat is once again touching the final of the Eastern Conference of the NBA. Last season, the team was the best in the East in the regular season and made its way naturally. This year, it has been the big surprise of the playoffs. After placing eighth in the regular season, he qualified at the last minute for the playoffs. However, they eliminated the favorites, the Milwaukee Bucks, in the first round and are now on track for the semifinals with a 1-3 defeat of the New York Knicks, thanks above all to one player: Jimmy Butler.
Butler has transformed from the regular league to the playoffs. He has returned to being the super-competitive player who percusses the entire game and is capable of assuming responsibility at decisive moments. The 33-year-old, 2.01-meter-tall forward was the hero of the tie with the Bucks and is once again the key player against the Knicks. He missed the second game and his team was defeated. In the three of the series that he has played, his team has won with him as the top scorer. This Monday, with 27 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds.
This Monday, however, almost as protagonist as he has been Bam Adebayo, Butler’s best ally. In the first half he was decisive to make a difference and in the game as a whole, his 23 points and 12 rebounds certify a solid performance, with a high success rate.
The Miami Heat are also dominating the tie against the Knicks thanks to defense. They have left opponents in low scoring figures throughout the series. This Monday it was the defense of the second quarter (or the Knicks’ lack of aim, depending on how you look at it) that made the difference and allowed the Heat to reach halftime with an advantage (56-48) after a very difficult first quarter. equalized (31-30). The third and the last quarter have also been balanced.
Down the stretch, when they were looking to come back, the Knicks have allowed the Heat too many second chances. Those from Miami have achieved eight more rebounds in the whole game. In the end, local victory by 109-101
For the Knicks, Jalen Brunson, with 32 points and 11 assists, has tried everything. Rowan Alexander has added 24 points and Julius Randle, another 20, but the team has lacked inside game. Adebayo has imposed his law under both hoops.
The fifth game of the tie is played at the old Madison Square Garden in New York this Wednesday. If the Knicks hold out, Game 6 will be played again in Miami on Friday. A hypothetical seventh game would return to New York next Monday.
The winner of the tie will play the Eastern Conference final against the winner of the other semifinal, in which the Celtics and the 76ers are tied for now. Those from Miami crossed paths with both teams last season. They beat Philadelphia in six games in the conference semifinals and lost to Boston in their own arena in a painful seventh game, in which Jimmy Butler missed the decisive shot. This year, the difference between both teams seems greater in favor of the Celtics. However, the same was true of Milwaukee.
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