After a painful stretch of games, the Miami Heat finally picked up a win, beating the New York Knicks on the road, 98-88. It wasn’t always pretty, but it sure does feel good seeing them get the monkey off their backs.
The Heat were down by 7 at halftime after scoring only 36 points, thanks largely to a lackluster second quarter, where the offense sputtered. However, the team rallied in the 3rd quarter to take an 11 point lead into the fourth, eventually staving off the pesky Knicks to snap a six game losing streak.
Bam Adebayo led the Miami Heat with 20 points and 18 rebounds. Jimmy Butler chipped in an efficient 27 and played excellent defense down the stretch.
Besides Adebayo and Butler, the team did not shoot well. The offense looked stagnant at times and to continue winning, we need more scoring from the backcourt.
The Miami Heat got a much needed win on Monday night, but it wasn’t easy at all.
It’s a good thing we now have Victor Oladipo on our roster to help alleviate some of the burden. Hopefully he recovers from his head cold and premiers for the team soon.
Not only did the team get a much needed win, but did so against a team that is ahead in the standings. Currently, the Miami Heat sit in 8th place in the Eastern conference.
Considering the top 3 teams in the east are playing superbly right now, the 6th, 7th or 8th spot would mean a first round matchup against either the Nets, Sixers or Bucks. Obviously, this is not appealing.
The good news is that the Heat are now only one game behind the four or five seed. I would argue this should be the team’s goal.
They would most likely be favored against the first round opponent, while also being able to avoid the play in tournament. Stay tuned for our next game on Wednesday night at the Indiana Pacers, another team in the East fighting for playoff seeding.
The Heat should be fired up, considering the recent two-game series. However, the Pacers should be as well, after allowing Russell Westbrook to go bonkers in defeat.
It’ll be another wild one.