The Miami Heat and New York Knicks meet Wednesday in Game 5 of the NBA East Semifinals Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.
The Miami Heat are averaging 116.3 points on 48.1 percent shooting and allowing 110.3 points on 45.9 percent shooting. Jimmy Butler is averaging 33.5 points and 6.4 rebounds, while Bam Adebayo is averaging 17.6 points and 9.3 rebounds. Gabe Vincent is the third double-digit scorer and Caleb Martin is grabbing 5.6 rebounds. The Miami Heat are shooting 38.5 percent from beyond the arc and 77.2 percent from the free throw line. The Miami Heat are allowing 33.9 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 42.2 rebounds per game.
The New York Knicks are averaging 99.7 points on 43.2 percent shooting and allowing 99.8 points on 44.1 percent shooting. Jalen Brunson is averaging 25.2 points and 4.6 rebounds, while RJ Barrett is averaging 19.4 points and 4.4 rebounds. Julius Randle is the third double-digit scorer and Josh Hart is grabbing 8 rebounds. The New York Knicks are shooting 28.2 percent from beyond the arc and 73.1 percent from the free throw line. The New York Knicks are allowing 32.1 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 45.3 rebounds per game.
The Heat are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 road games and 7-0 ATS in their last 7 games overall. The Knicks are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 Wednesday games and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall. The over is 19-7 in Heat last 26 overall. The under is 7-2 in Knicks last 9 overall. The Heat are 13-5 ATS in the last 18 meetings in New York and 4-0 ATS in the last 4 meetings.
Te New York Knicks are simply getting the benefit of the doubt at home down 1-3 in the series, but they've shown us nothing through 4 games that makes me want to pick them. The Knicks lone win in this series came when Jimmy Butler didn't play, and they almost lost that game. After game 4, Randle said maybe the Heat just want it more. What?! I think it's quite clear who the better team is in this series, and there's no reason for me to turn down free points with the better team, especially when they've covered 7 straight. Give me the road dog.
