Looking A Bit Closer At Miami Heat’s Matchup With New York Knicks

Jimmy Butler Needs To Be Best Player On Floor, For Miami Heat Or Otherwise

Though this shouldn’t be a super-tough matchup for this Heat squad, it is still a dangerous Knicks team on the other side if they don’t come prepared for battle. Here are a few keys to the contest.

Keys to the Game

1. Miami needs to stay in control of this game. Even though Miami held the lead for the entire game against the Lakers, they managed to allow the Lakers to fight back, making it a closer game than it should have been in the end.

Miami needs to control things, start off hot on both ends of the court, and can’t take their feet off of the collective gas pedal towards the end of the game.

2. Miami needs to capitalize on the open opportunities. They need to make sure that when the three-point shot is open, they knock those shots down.

They need to control the paint and draw the fouls. Going 18-20 from the free-throw line in their last one, 90 percent shooting, that kind of efficiently can help rack up a ton of points for them.

3. They need to trust in Jimmy Butler to perform as the All-Star he is. Butler needs to come out hot and on his way towards being a huge factor in this game, going head to head with Julius Randle as the opposition’s lead dog.

He needs to play both ends of the court, as he always does, with great intensity.

Overall Predictions

As many league followers are, how can you help but not be a fan of this rivalry? Also, personally being from New York and having a grasp on what they do, I would expect both teams to come out hot from the start.

However, I see the Heat’s style of play as being too much for the Knicks to handle on both sides of the court. Miami will take the game, 113-97 according to my calculations, a victory over the Knicks and one to stay atop the Eastern Conference.