The New York Knicks and the Miami Heat continue their second playoff matchup tonight. The Heat lead the series 3 games to 2. As the 8 seed, the Heat are aiming to continue their magical run through the playoffs, after they upset the top seeded Milwaukee Bucks. Ironically, they’re aiming to do what the Knicks did in 1998-1999, when the Knicks, as the 8 seed, stormed their way to the NBA Finals. This has the potential to be a legacy series and playoff run for Jimmy Butler. While he did lead the Heat to a surprising NBA Finals appearance in 2020, this playoff run is catching everyone by surprise. The Heat entered the Play-In Tournament as the 7 seed, but lost at home to the Atlanta Hawks. They had to scratch and claw their way just to get into the postseason, and now they are positioned to be the first team to punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals.
On the other side, the Knicks will be looking to force a Game 7 back at Madison Square Garden. They’ve had a successful season in their own right, winning a playoff series for the first time since the 2013 season. While they’ve struggled thus far against the Heat, they just need to win one game to then be able to play in front of their home crowd to try and advance to the ECF. Julius Randle, in particular, has faced some “heat” for his play this series. His lackadaisical play and turnovers have caused plenty of consternation among fans and pundits. However, he has a great chance to turn all of that around in the last 2 games of this series. Knicks fans will embrace him wholeheartedly if he can lead this team out of a 3-1 series deficit. While history isn’t on the Knicks’ side, they do have what it takes to beat Miami. This is what any player or fan should want. Just having the opportunity to advance is something few teams have at this point in the season.
A lot is on the line tonight in Miami, and we can’t wait to see how it plays out.