Basketball | Saturday, May 6, 2023 1:11 PM

Miami Heat vs New York Knicks Best Bet: Low-Scoring Series Continues

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Basketball Expert

Miami Heat vs. New York Knicks Best Bet: Saturday, May 6th

Jimmy Butler is returning tonight to defend his home court against the Knicks who will try to build off their last win. This series was disturbed by injuries on both sides, with a 3-day break we are expecting the return of the majority of the missing players from the last game. Miami took the break in the first game and will try to build off that.

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Miami Heat vs New York Knicks Preview

Sat, May 6th. 20:30 pm (UK time)

The Heat entered the playoffs through the back door, going through the play-in tournament, but everyone knew they are a different beast once playoffs come and we are witnessing it once again. They managed to eliminate the 1st-seed Bucks and have already taken the break in Game 1. Coach Spoelstra clearly stated that the Heat’s approach is different depending if J. Butler is active.

The Heat tried to shoot as many threes as possible in game 2 without Butler, and they managed to convert only 34% of them. This is the biggest area of weakness for the team from the Big Apple since they were ranked 27th in the regular season in defending the 3-point shot. Jimmy Butler and Caleb Martin were both “questionable” for tonight’s game but their status turned to Probable so we are expecting them to play unrestricted minutes tonight, especially Butler.

Julius Randle’s return to the Knicks provided a big boost to their offence as they posted an offensive rating of 127.6 in Game 2. With Butler returning, we believe these numbers will drop since he will be the primary guard of the scary Knicks centre. The Knicks need to find a way to play defence against Miami without fouling as they made the Heat go to the line 29 times in Game 2. Jalen Brunson also changed his status from “Questionable” to “Probable” and we are expecting the Knicks on the full roster.