The Miami Heat and New York Knicks resume their second-round NBA playoff series in the Big Apple on Tuesday. Game time is 7:30 p.m. ET at Madison Square Garden where the Knicks are -6.5 point favorites with the total at 206.5. The status of two key players—Jimmy Butler and Julius Randall– is in doubt and might not be decided until just before tip-off.
It makes it problematic to predict what will happen when the Heat try for a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Miami Heat (50-40, 1-0, #8 seed)
Butler is Miami’s most important player, scoring 56 and 42 points in the final two games of their first-round series, when the Heat knocked off Milwaukee to become the sixth No. 8 to beat a No. 1 seed in NBA history.
But Butler rolled his ankle with 5:05 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“F**k”
— Spo on Jimmy Butler injury pic.twitter.com/zv2PqpzeAC
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) April 30, 2023
He stayed in the game and finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds and four assists to go along with two steals. Butler is now averaging 35.5 points per game in the playoffs:
https://twitter.com/HunnedPoints/status/1652853030214066176
New York Knicks (51-37, 0-1, 5th seed)
While Butler was able to finish Game 1, New York’s Julius Randle was unable to start it due to a sprained left ankle. He aggravated the injury in Game 5 of the first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.
Randle boasted team-best averages in points (25.1) and rebounds (10.0) to go along with 4.1 assists in the regular season.
#2 – The presence of Julius Randle
NYK will be without Randle for Sunday afternoon’s game, his injury status is something to follow.
Toppin may have helped close things out on Wednesday, but Randle is vital to this series vs Miami.
After all, he did this to Miami this season: pic.twitter.com/7yzCCaxMNe
— Jake Brown (@JakeBr0wn) April 30, 2023
The Knicks only watched film on Monday, so there was no chance for him to get on the practice court and test the ankle.
RJ Barrett, who finished with 26 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, led the Knicks in Game 1:
RJ Barrett vs Miami Heat
26 PTS
9 REB
7 AST
1 STL
10/20 FG#Knicks L.#NewYorkForever #NBA #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/vwaXIQVjXs— A Walking Highlight (@11AWH) April 30, 2023
Jalen Brunson, who averaged 24.0 points per game in the first round, finished with 25. He was also representative of a tough day from beyond the arc for the Knicks going 0-7. Barrett was 1-5 and Hart 0-4 from downtown. The Knicks shot just 20.6 percent from 3-point range (7-for-34) on Sunday and were outscored 39-21 from beyond the arc. They also misfired on eight of 20 free-throw attempts.
The Knicks responded from their loss in Game 2 to the Cavaliers by winning three straight to take the series, so they’re not overly concerned heading into Game 2.
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