Jimmy Butler led the Miami Heat with 27 points and was back to his ruthless best in doing so to finally help his team end a 6-game losing streak against New York Knicks. Bam Adebayo and Duncan Robinson each scored 20 points for the defending Eastern Conference Champions, whereas Tyler Herro has 18.
Talking about home team, Julius Randle led New York with 22 points. Derrick Rose scored 16 points and Immanuel Quickley added 12, both off the bench, as the Knicks had their three-game winning streak halted and slipped to 24-23.
Jimmy Butler helps Miami Heat end 6 game losing streak
New York led 43-36 at halftime thanks to a strong defensive performance in the opening quarters. The Knicks limited the Heat to 33.3% shooting from the field, 21.1% (4 for 19) from long range and forced six turnovers.
“It (was) like a playoff game environment,” Knicks swingman RJ Barrett said. “That’s what we’re looking forward to, somewhere we want to get to. So it was good to have.”
But the Knicks could not build on their advantage and trailed 75-64 entering the fourth quarter. Miami scored 39 points in the third, including 14 by Jimmy Butler. New York outscored Miami 14-9 over the first 6:23 of the fourth, cutting the Heat’s lead to 86-78. But Miami scored 12 of the final 22 points to seal the win.
The spoken about franchises engaged in an epic rivalry beginning in 1995 and culminating in 2000. Over the course of 20 regular-season games and 24 playoff games in back-to-back-to-back-to-back seasons, those Heat and Knicks teams redefined tough, passionate, emotional, defensive-oriented, compelling basketball.
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