There was the sport mendacity on the court docket. Maybe the sequence. Jimmy Butler, the one participant with out a fathomable substitute, writhing in ache. Grabbing his foot.
At that second, Erik Spoelstra was caught on digicam uttering what the Miami Heat supporters, nonetheless many few caught round after LeBron James left, have been all considering.
“F—,” the coach mouthed.
There have been about 5 minutes remaining Sunday when Butler sprained his ankle, and certainly the Heat have been in hassle with a slim lead.
Except the other occurred. The Knicks grew to become the shell-shocked facet. At dwelling and going through an inferior roster, they folded like a blueberry crepe in a 108-101 Game 1 defeat.
“Just wasn’t making shots,” Mitchell Robinson stated.
Butler didn’t sub out after turning his ankle whereas driving to the ring on defender Josh Hart. He emerged from the timeout clearly underneath bodily misery, hobbling across the court docket.
But the Knicks by no means took benefit. Instead, they have been outscored, 11-3, within the four-plus minutes instantly after Butler’s damage. The sport was settled with Butler as a limping decoy, with the All-Star ahead watching teammates Kyle Lowry, Gabe Vincent and Bam Adebayo bury the Knicks and deflate the MSG crowd.
How did that occur? Why didn’t they assault Butler?
“Tricky situation obviously, he wasn’t 100 percent. He’s one of the best defenders in the league, so even if his feet aren’t moving fast side to side, he has great hands,” Jalen Brunson stated. “But as a team, we got to do a better job recognizing what’s going on, especially late in the game. Like I said, it starts with me.”
Brunson was the somberest of participant postgame interviews, shouldering the blame after his “uncharacteristic” dud of a playoff efficiency.
“Horrific,” Brunson labeled it.
The different Knicks have been extra optimistic concerning the circumstances. And rightfully so.
They misplaced this sport with out Julius Randle, who ought to return from his personal ankle sprain in Tuesday’s Game 2. They misplaced this sport after capturing simply 20.6 p.c on 3-pointers, which was underscored by Brunson, Hart and RJ Barrett lacking 15 of their 16 makes an attempt.
And maybe most vital — they misplaced this sport with Miami’s one-man Tour de Force, Butler, struggling to maneuver for the ultimate 5 minutes. If he’s hampered or out for an prolonged time, the calculus of the sequence is shifted — irrespective of who presently is main.
“If he’s good,” stated a supply near the Heat, “this is going to be a short series.”
But what if he’s not?
In the locker room postgame, Butler was barefoot with important swelling round his ankle. Size of a baseball. Bad sprains don’t simply disappear in a single day. They linger. They can change a sequence.
“We’ve been through this a couple times, so each ankle sprain is unique and you have to evaluate things on a case by case basis,” Spoelstra stated. “He sprained his ankle several times with us. I know him. I know when I can look in his eye and he assured me that he wasn’t going to be a liability. He wanted to stay in there and help us get this win, and that’s the most important thing. We’ve got a lot of chaos, a lot of things going on, but the main thing being the main thing, we’ve got to secure and get the win. We’ll figure out what happens in the next 48 hours.”
The Heat was already wounded and depleted, lacking Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo for the playoffs. Its rotation consists of the undrafted (Caleb Martin, Max Strus, Gabe Vincent, Duncan Robinson) and the aged (Kevin Love, Lowry).
The Knicks are extra gifted and deeper. That didn’t matter in Game 1. They had Butler on one leg and nonetheless blew it.
“It’s always easy to play Monday morning quarterback when you lose a game or when a team goes on a run late in the fourth,” stated Hart, who was Butler’s main defender and allowed the All-Star to attain 25 factors with 11 rebounds earlier than the damage. “We’re gonna watch film and see where we can get better at. Maybe that could’ve been something; maybe not. We have talented guys that can make shots. I think that’s it. Like I said, it’s always easy playing Monday morning quarterback, but that’s not what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna watch film. We’re gonna get better, and we’re gonna prepare.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com
