Big Three of Miami Heat combine for 73 to deflate New York Knicks 93-85 - NBA Recap
On Sunday night at the Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, the visiting Miami Heat defeated the New York Knicks 93-85 in what can be a first round matchup in the playoffs.
New York entered the game in number 7 seed and would have faced the Miami Heat, who occupy the number 2 spot in the Eastern Conference, in the first round. However, after this loss, the Knicks suffered a draw back in their standings
as they dropped down to 8th place, half a game behind the Philadelphia 76ers.
Miami entered the game, having won only 3 times in their last 11 on the road, but they love to play at the Garden and it showed. This win for the Heat, also put an end to the 9 game winning streak for the Knicks at the Garden under
new interim coach Mike Woodson.
LeBron James led the Heat in scoring by getting 29 points while smoothly notching up a double-double by also grabbing 10 boards. Dwyane Wade was not far behind with 28 points and 9 boards. Chris Bosh, accompanied James in double-double
statistics by notching up 16 points and 14 boards by the end of the game.
Only the three players for Miami ended the game with scores in double figures. However, it was off great value as the ‘Big Three’ of Heat combined together for 73 points.
Carmelo Anthony had a game high of 42 points, in a losing effort for the Knicks making this his 2nd game in five, in which he has managed to score above 40 points.
Only one other player for New York ended the game in scoring in double figures, J.R. Smith, who came off the bench to contribute 16 points. Tyson Chandler, despite being injured in the third quarter returned to action to finish
the game with 9 points and 5 boards.
Miami out-rebounded New York 47-33 with 11 of those coming on the offensive end of the court. They also had a dominating presence inside the paint as they outscored the Knicks 44-34 from inside the key.
Heat came out of the blocks running as they raced to an 8-3 lead in the early stages of the first quarter. Miami held the upper hand in scoring for the rest of the quarter as they ended the first twelve minutes 7 points ahead of
their hosts.
In the second quarter, Knicks rallied back furiously, starting the period on a 10-2 run to take their first lead of the matchup at 32-31 with 5:53 to go in the half. Both teams traded baskets with each other for the remaining time
in the half and the scores were equal at 44-each with 40.6 seconds remaining.
James was sent to the line twice by the Knicks after that. However, he only managed to convert 2 out of 4 free throws as Miami closed the half leading by 2 points.
The scores remained close in the third quarter as Miami only had a 1 point advantage, 54-53 with 8:29 remaining. In the next several minutes though, the Heat went on a 9-1 run to lead 63-54 with 3:47 remaining in the third.
However New York was just not letting up, especially, Smith and Anthony. Smith connected twice from long range in the closing stages of the third as the Knicks only trailed by 3 going into the fourth, 68-71.
With the momentum on their side, NYK were able to first tie the scores and then get their noses in front in the ball game. They were leading by 79-75 with 8:08 remaining to the final buzzer.
However the Heat had the final say as they closed out the game on an 18-6 run with Dwyane Wade getting 8 of his 28 points during that burst. Miami held on in the end to win this by a margin of 8 points.
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