LeBron James scored 17 of his game high 32 points in the fourth quarter as Miami Heat take an assertive 3-0 lead against the New York Knicks
In the Game 3 on Thursday night, LeBron James came up big in the fourth quarter with 17 points to carve out a win 87-70 win for the Miami Heat against the New York Knicks at the Madison Square Garden, giving
the Knicks the worst playoff losing streak of 13 straight games.
Knicks who have struggled with injuries throughout the season went into the game without Amare’ Stoudemire and interim coach Mike Woodson was forced to go with a much smaller line up in the absence of the power
forward.
James was just sensational on the night. He struggled to find his shooting rhythm in the first half when the Knicks really piled on the defensive pressure, but once Dwyane Wade started rolling in the third, James
followed suit and signed off on a 9-of-21 shooting night, finishing with 32 points and 8 boards.
Dwyane Wade followed him up with 20 of his own points, including 12 in the third quarter, and Mario Chalmers hit a tally of 5 treys to finish the night with 19 points.
Despite holding a 4 point advantage at the halfway mark, 36-40, offensive struggles took over the Knicks for the latter half of the game as they were only able to register only 30 points in the entire second
half.
Carmelo Anthony managed a team high of 22 points but it took a 7-of-23 shooting display to get him to that mark. Only two other players reached the double digit mark in scoring. J.R. Smith coming off the bench
to notch up 12 points and Tyson Chandler recorded a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds in the game for the Knicks who only managed a 31.9 percent shooting from the floor.
Miami got off to a good start to the game as they held an early 11-4 lead in the matchup. They went on to continue in similar fashion and by the 4:59 mark were leading 17-8. Knicks however put the bad start behind
them in the remaining portion and closed the quarter out on a 11-2 run to tie the score up at 19-each.
Knicks carried that momentum in the second quarter, by recording 5 quick unanswered points and get their noses in front for the first time in the game. This invigorating display was prolonged into a 9-1 run as
the Knicks took a 28-20 lead.
Even though the Heat responded back with a 6-0 run of their own to cut back on the advantage, however till the end of the first half, Knick were able to hold on to their lead and keep the Miami charge at bay.
Miami started off the second half, ready to bounce back and were able to do so courtesy of a 12-4 run. However, the Knicks side were able to keep the scores close and were only trailing by 2 points before going
into the fourth, 56-58.
In the fourth quarter, things took a turn to the worse for the Knicks; the Heat came out gunning with an 8-0 run, led by 2 triples from James. This offensive explosion continued on for the Heat, who outscored
the Knicks 19-6 till the midway stage.
Staring at a 15 point hole, the Knicks couldn’t muster any sort of a challenge as the heat cruised away to a 3-0 decision.
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