GAME PREVIEW: Heat travel back to MSG looking to close out the series

Miami will try to pull off the gentleman sweep and advance to the ECF.

Game Story:

The 8th seed Miami Heat successfully stole home court advantage after picking up a 1-1 split in New York during game’s 1 and 2. They proceeded to go on and take both games back in Miami at the Kaseya Center and are now in position to pull off yet another underdog series upset. So far, this series has gone the same exact way that the Milwaukee Bucks series did. With Miami winning game 1, losing game 2, then successfully defending home court and winning both game’s 3 and 4.

The thing that’s the most impressive is that the Heat are getting these wins with Jimmy Butler still not at 100%. He is playing on a bum ankle and still putting up super impressive numbers.

Butler is coming off a 27 point, 10 assist, 6 rebound performance on 53% shooting in game 4.

For the playoffs, Butler is averaging 34 PPG. So even Playoff Jimmy not at full strength physically is a problem. That is a scary sight for the rest of the league, because as the days go on and the more rest/treatment he gets on that ankle, the more dominant this man is going to be in the long run.

Considering Butler’s injury and a few nagging injuries from others, picking up this game 5 win would be huge. The Sixers/Celtics series seems to potentially be going the distance. so if Miami can close it out tonight and get the job done, Butler and the Heat could take advantage of an extra day or two of treatment.

The Heat need to bring their success on both ends of the floor that they had in South Florida over to MSG. Look for Bam Adebayo to stay assertive offensively, as he had two straight dominant games.

Besides just the usual from Butler and Adebayo, the supporting cast needs to continue doing their thing. That starts with Kyle Lowry, who has excelled in his new role off the bench as the main leader and orchestrator for the second unit.

Guys like Max Strus, Caleb Martin, Gabe Vincent and Kevin Love have all had great moments as well.

Even Duncan Robinson has found the range in this post season run. It looks like he is finally looking more comfortable and playing much more freely in the time he has been given.

The team needs to contain Jalen Brunson, who had a strong 30 point performance in game 4. Now Brunson can feed off the home crowd, so being able to contain him and make it tough on him defensively will be key.

The Heat should again try to go at Julius Randle as well and get him in foul trouble again. Randle was playing solid but the foul trouble kept him from being as aggressive as he really wanted to.

Miami will try to win tonight and reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the 3rd time in 4 seasons. This one must have to be the most impressive and improbable, as this squad is doing all this playoff damage as the lowest seed overall.

Tonight’s game will be nationally televised on TNT.

Injury Report:

MIAMI:

• Haywood Highsmith (knee) — PROBABLE

• Caleb Martin (back) — QUESTIONABLE

• Jimmy Butler (ankle) — QUESTIONABLE

• Tyler Herro (hand) — OUT

• Victor Oladipo (knee) — OUT

NEW YORK:

• Immanuel Quickley (ankle) — DOUBTFUL

• Jericho Sims (shoulder) — OUT

Probable Starters (at time of publishing):

MIAMI

• Jimmy Butler

• Kevin Love

• Bam Adebayo

• Max Strus

• Gabe Vincent

NEW YORK

• RJ Barrett

• Julius Randle

• Mitchell Robinson

• Quentin Grimes

• Jalen Brunson

ODDS (via FanDuel)

Check the odds out at FanDuel!

Broadcast Info:

Tipoff: 7:30 PM EST

TV: TNT & Bally Sports Sun (Eric Reid, John Crotty)

Radio: AM 560 Sports WQAM & The HEAT Radio Network (Jason Jackson)

Spanish Radio: WAQI 710 AM & The HEAT Spanish Radio Network (José Pañeda)

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