Before the Knicks tackled their 3-1 deficit and a must-win Game 5, Markieff Morris, an NBA veteran and a latest Heat participant, predicted their fast downfall as a result of the matchup was unfavorable.
“When you talk about Miami, they’re more talented, more tough and battle tested,” Morris, who performed final season with the Heat, mentioned on his Youtube sequence “Run Your Race.” “The three things you need, bro. Miami gets to the point when you need one more guy. And they’re doing this without Tyler Herro. Imagine if they had Tyler. This would’ve probably been a sweep.”
Herro, the Heat’s third main scorer within the common season, has missed the complete sequence due to a damaged proper hand. Still, the Heat emerged from the Play-In Tournament to pummel the top-seeded Bucks within the first spherical. Then they pushed the Knicks to the brink earlier than Wednesday’s Game 5.
“I got Heat, 4-1. I think they close it out in five,” mentioned Morris, who performed for the Nets final season earlier than getting traded with Kyrie Irving to the Mavericks. “This is not a good matchup for the Knicks.”
Morris, whose twin brother, Marcus, performed a half-season with the Knicks in 2019-20, mentioned the Heat tradition isn’t a delusion — “You might not be as skilled but you’re always going to be in the right place at the right time,” he mentioned, “doing all the right sh— all the time.”
He additionally lauded Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who was pushing the fitting buttons towards Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks. Morris mentioned the Heat also needs to win the subsequent spherical if the opponent is the Sixers, who’re main the Celtics within the convention semifinals, 3-2.
Morris clearly likes Spoelstra in his matchup towards Doc Rivers.
“Spoelstra’s too much of a wizard to get beat by the Sixers,” Morris mentioned. “He’s a real wizard when he comes to that game planning sh—.”
But so far as the Knicks-Heat sequence? Morris sees the alternative of what the Knicks confronted of their Round 1 drubbing of the Cavaliers.
“Cleveland matchup was perfect. They outtoughed them,” Morris mentioned. “Cleveland got good players but they’re not battle tested. They’re not rugged enough for New York.”
Miami guard Max Strus mentioned the important thing to his crew’s playoff success — relative to its very pedestrian common season — is the heroics of Jimmy Butler.
“I’d like to say it was a big thing. But a lot of it is just Jimmy Butler, man,” Strus mentioned. “He’s been so good for us. He’s just carrying us on his back. ..We take things personal and nobody believed in us again. But we all believed in each other.”
Morris, who gained a title with the Lakers in 2020, can also be in awe of Butler within the playoffs.
“Playoff Jimmy,” Morris mentioned. “There’s a couple guys I’ve been in the playoffs with me being there eight straight seasons. When you got guys turning into different people in the playoffs — it’s him and LeBron who stand out to the most to me.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com