Jimmy Butler made a triumphant return from injury as the Miami Heat downed the New York Knicks 105-86 on Saturday to take a 2-1 lead in their NBA Eastern Conference playoff series.
Butler, who sat out Miami’s game two defeat in New York on Tuesday after rolling his ankle in game one, showed no sign of the problem as he once again led the Heat’s scoring with 28 points, adding four rebounds and three assists.
Butler was one of four Miami players to finish in double figures in a game that the eighth-seeded Heat led from start-to-finish.
Max Strus finished with 19 points, including three three-pointers, while defensive linchpin Bam Adebayo weighed in with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Kyle Lowry added 14 points for Miami.
“It feels good to get a dub (W) on our home floor in front of our fans. We’re going to take that and roll with it,” said Butler, whose dazzling form helped eliminate the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the post-season.
“I’m comfortable, I’m confident and I work extremely hard at my craft,” Butler said. “My teammates have got a lot to do with that.
“They always make sure I’m catching the ball in spots where I’m comfortable and letting me be aggressive.”
Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said Butler’s return to the lineup had infused his teammates with confidence.
“You can’t put an analytic to it. It’s just the overall confidence level your team has — that you can always get the ball to him and know that we’ll get something efficient and coherent,” Spoelstra said of Butler.
“We have a bunch of guys stepping up. We’re more dangerous when a lot of guys are putting their fingerprints on the win at both ends of the court.
“But you need a guy like Jimmy when you’re playing against a good team like this.”
Jalen Brunson led New York with 20 points as the Knicks were outmuscled by a combative Miami lineup that outscored their opponents in all four quarters.
New York’s problems were compounded by a dismal shooting performance, with the Knicks making just 31-of-91 from the field.
“The start of the game we got back on our heels, their aggressiveness … we couldn’t get stops early, so we didn’t get any easy buckets, so we paid the price,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said after the loss.
“We got bogged down and offense was hard. But credit to them, they played great defense.
“Defensively we were solid, but offensively we didn’t play the way we wanted to. I don’t put that on one player. It’s a collective effort.”
Miami’s robust approach led to tempers flaring in the third quarter when Cody Zeller shoved over Randle as the two grappled under the basket, prompting a melee involving players from both sides.
Game four in the best-of-seven series takes place in Miami on Monday.
