The Miami Heat had everyone’s attention with that 4-1 series upset of No.. 1 Milwaukee in the NBA playoffs’ first round. But everyone’s respect? Nope. Not yet.
“That Don’t Impress Me Much,” the Shania Twain song, might as well have been the soundtrack as the No. 8-seed Heat entered Madison Square Garden for Game 1 against the No. 5 New York Knicks on Sunday to begin the second round.
New York was the betting favorite in the game, with ABC pregame hosts Stephen A. Smith, Michael Wilbon and Jalen Rose all concurring that NYK would win. Knicks also were the betting pick in the series. In fact Miami was the biggest underdog of all, ninth of nine teams still alive entering Sunday. (Jimmy Butler in the Finals MVP odds? Tied for 13th.)
Hmm.
Heat 108, Knicks 101.
“We’re just playing great basketball,” Butler said afterward. “We’re together, at home, on the road, through the good and through the bad. We believe that we can do something special.”
Even if everybody else has not yet caught up to the idea.
Game 2 is Tuesday night in New York.
The Heat is now three wins from becoming only the second No. 8 seed to each a conference finals since the NBA adopted its current 16-team playoff format in the 1983-84 season.
Butler turned his right ankle late in the fourth quarter but stayed in for the next few minutes until the lead was sufficient for him to take the bench, smiling, with 23.6 seconds left.
The Knicks shooting 7-for-34 on three-point shots helped.
“He reassured me that he wasn’t going to be a liability and he wanted to stay in there and make sure we get this win,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.
What does the injury feel like?
“Like a rolled ankle,” said Butler.
Spoelstra called Butler’s injury “a waiting game,” but don’t count him out for Game 2.
Butler led the team, again, but had “only” 25 points, after averaging 37 in the Bucks series. He is that good. Twenty-five points is “only.” No problem. Gabe Vincent chipped in 20. And Kyle Lowry had 18 off the bench and was absolutely terrific.
“Kyle in the fourth quarter was so important,” said Spoelstra. “We got the ball to him and he made a lot of important plays.”
Miami lost a home play-in game to Atlanta and needed a play-in must win against Chicago just to eke into the postseason.
“It’s the playoffs, number one. You expect it to be tough,” Spoelstra said. “Two, just because the regular season didn’t go the way we wanted it to go or other people wanted it to go, it doesn’t mean we weren’t developing grit and tough habits and good things. It wasn’t just from the play-in.”
This is Miami’s 52nd all-time playoff series and the Heat and Knicks’ sixth — second-most all-time for Miami behind only the Chicago Bulls with seven.
Heat-Knicks smolders in the mind as bitter rivalry, though, based on four straight postseason meetings in 1997-2000 — series brimming with acrimony including the infamous ‘98 brawl sparked by Alonzo Mourning’s physically rugged interplay with New York’s Larry Johnson. In the ensuing melee Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy ran onto the court and was sprawled on the hardwood wrapped around Zo’s leg — a memorable snapshot in South Florida sports history.
“At that time,” Mourning recalled, “he felt like a piece of gum on my shoe.”
But this the team’s first postseason meeting since 2012, and in the interim the Celtics have taken over as the Heat’s chief rival.
The bad blood with the Knicks is nonexistent this time around. Only the stakes are the same.
Madison Square Garden was filled with notables as you’d expect. (And is there anything greater than seeing Spike Lee, in orange glasses, shades of angry and sad?) Chris Rock was there. Martha Stewart. Dwyane Wade. Aaron Rodgers. Trevor Noah hugged Butler as he left the court.
Heat president Pat Riley was there, in the building he forsook to come to Miami. And Zo was there, 25 years after the brawl and Van Gundy grabbing his leg.
Knicks fans may note that Julius Randle missed Game 1 with a sprained ankle.
But the Heat’s Tyler Herro remains out this series with a broken hand. New York beat Miami in three of four during the regular season, and Herro averaged 25 points in those three games.
That’s close enough to a wash to not take credit away from Miami’s win.
The Heat struggled much of the first half, shooting only 38.3 percent and in one stretch missing 13 of 15 3-point attempts. They were outscored in the paint, 40-20.
Spoelstra’s adjustments sparked the turnaround and the Game 1 win.
Miami’s defense in the second half formed a wall to protect its paint, and the Knicks managed only 22 paint points in the second half.
Dispatching top-seed Milwaukee and Giannis Antetokounmpo did not earn much respect for Miami.
This Game 1 road victory at Knicks might not, either.
But, as Butler said, “We believe we can do something special.”
Sometimes belief is personal, internally held and requiring no outside validation.
This story was originally published April 30, 2023 4:10 PM.
