Heat beat Knicks 109-101

Heat beat Knicks 109-101

NBA

Heat beat Knicks 109-101

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Jimmy Butler had 27 points and 10 assists, Bam Adebayo finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds and the Miami Heat moved a win away from their third trip to the Eastern Conference finals in the last four years by topping the New York Knicks 109-101 on Monday night.

Max Strus scored 16 points, Kyle Lowry added 15 and Caleb Martin had 10 for the Heat. Miami, the No. 8 seed, leads the East semifinal series 3-1, with Game 5 — and the first potential clincher — awaiting in New York on Wednesday night.

Jalen Brunson finished with 32 points and 11 assists for fifth-seeded New York, while RJ Barrett had 24 points and Julius Randle scored 20 for the Knicks before fouling out with about three minutes left.

Miami missed 12 of its first 15 shots of the fourth quarter, but the Knicks didn’t take full advantage — trimming only three points off the Heat lead in that span. It was nine entering the fourth, and a pair of free throws by Brunson with 4:40 left got New York within 99-93.

 

The Knicks cut what was an 11-point deficit down to 67-65 on a 3-pointer by Barrett with 7:07 left in the third, but never got all the way over the hump. An 8-1 spurt over a two-minute stretch late in the third restored the 11-point lead, and Miami’s cushion was 90-81 going into the fourth.