NEW YORK — The Miami Heat and New York Knicks, both fresh off thrilling first-round upsets, will clash in their second-round series starting Sunday in a new iteration of their classic 1990s rivalry.
This week, both Locked On Heat and Locked On Knicks previewed the series from their local perspectives.
In Miami, Jimmy Butler is coming of an all-time series, and now faces his longtime head coach Tom Thibodeau, now with New York.
“I wonder whether or not Thibodeau, as familiar as he is with Jimmy Butler … decides that it’s time to send a double that way,” Locked On Heat host David Ramil said on the show.
While the Knicks dominated the boards in the first round, Miami was able to slow its series against the Bucks down, limit turnovers, and win close games. Whoever wins those games within the games is likely to win the series.
“When you’re talking about the possession battle, which is something the Heat try to win … the takeaways is the big thing,” Locked On Heat host Wes Goldberg said.
From the Knicks’ perspective, with star forward Julius Randle still dealing with an injury, the team will likely lean heavily on point guard Jalen Brunson once again. Their center duo of Mitchell Robinson and Isaiah Hartenstein will also be tasked with controlling the paint on both ends.
“You look at the personnel and on paper, the Knicks probably should win this series,” Locked On Knicks host Gavin Schall said. “They’re the deeper team, certainly if Julius Randle is healthy, they have a lot more scoring than Miami does, the way they played defensively they should be about as good as Miami is.”
Still, the Heat have clearly the most accomplished player in the series in Butler, and have been a consistent playoff powerhouse for years. The Knicks face an uphill battle matching Miami’s pedigree.
“In the postseason it’s about what question can you ask that they can’t answer,” Dan Devine of Yahoo! Sports said on Locked On Knicks. “I wonder if that could be the case for this Knicks team.”
The Knicks are -158 favorites to win the series on the FanDuel Sportsbook, and are getting four points at home in Game One.