Neither team played lights out offence in Game 3, at least not judging by some of the major statistical categories, but Miami has had a knack throughout their playoff run of exploiting the opposition’s weaknesses. It was the same story on Saturday as the Heat rolled to a 105-86 win. Miami leads the series 2-1.

The basketball experts believe that Miami will indeed be leading the series 3-1 after tonight, as the NBA odds have the Heat as -4.5 favourites. The total is set at 206.5.

Knicks vs. Heat NBA Playoffs Betting Odds

We’re not in “coin flip” territory anymore. That’s what we said in our preview of the third contest when Erik Spoelstra’s unit was -122 on the series board and Tom Thibodeau’s was -109. But the victory on Saturday and possibly the manner in which it happened puts the Heat at -250, whereas the Knicks sit at +181. Not the widest of margins, but one club is evidently pulling away.

Miami keeps on covering spreads. The Game 3 win made it six in a row. Not since their defeat in the second game of Round 1 have they failed to deal with one. The reverse is true of the Knicks, who have now stumbled against the past three spreads. Thus far, the over is 2-1 in the series.

New York Knicks

It was just one of those games. Then again, so was Game 1, which New York also lost. So either the first trio of tilts is a sign that this will not end well for the Knicks or the club has something up its sleeve to turn the tide.

No team is going to fire 40 three-point shots, make only eight and win the game. That simply doesn’t happen in the modern NBA. 34.1 efficiency from the field will also sink any squad. Funnily enough, Miami wasn’t that much better (38.9), but New York sent the Heat to the line so often it didn’t matter. The Heat were a sensational 28-for-31 on free throws, whereas not only was New York not as efficient, but they didn’t have as many attempts (16-for-22). RJ Barrett, for all his qualities, was no good on defence. A -32 point differential cannot be blamed exclusively on a single player – sometimes a bucket is scored and the defender concerned had nothing to do with it – but that’s still an atrocious figure. Jalen Brunson’s shots were highly contested all game long, hence his 20-point day at the office.

Miami Heat

Game 3 was more of a slugfest than anything, especially considering the statistics we’ve alluded to already. That said, seeing as Miami is the team up 2-1 in the series with another home game coming up, they surely don’t mind.

Jimmy Butler made his return to the lineup after missing the second bout and led his side with 28 points. He even performed a couple of dunks on breakaways, which in his postgame presser he jokingly (or not) explained that they were in response to recent comments that he wasn’t very athletic. When a team overall isn’t shooting very well, one takes the positives where they can get them. As such, Max Strus and Bam Adebayo were key, as both went 7-for-14 and were the most consistent players even though they didn’t shoot much. The defence was key. Miami made New York look uncomfortable on offence for 48 minutes, which is something they succeeded at, to a degree, against Milwaukee in Round 1.

Game 4 Prediction: Who Will Win Knicks vs. Heat?

KNICKS

Away

100

HEAT

Home

105

Score
Predictions

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