Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo fuel Heat past Knicks 109-101, take 3-1 series lead

Miami's two stars led the way en route to Miami's Game 4 victory.

Despite a masochistic, murky fourth quarter offensively, the Miami Heat persevered in Game 4 against the New York Knicks 109-101.

Both teams missed 21 of their first 27 combined shots to begin the final quarter, though Miami — who led by nine entering the period — did not let the lead sink below seven, despite multiple opportunities from both teams to capitalize.

Ironically, the biggest factor was on the offensive glass.

No, not from a Knicks squad that’s been one of the NBA’s most potent offensive rebounding squads — but from the Heat, a below-average offensive rebounding team in the regular season and entered Wednesday with the second-lowest ORB% among teams who played at least five playoff games.

The Heat conjured together seven offensive rebounds (to the Knicks’ one) across the final 12 minutes, leading to seven second-chance points compared to New York’s goose egg. In total, the Heat out-rebounded the Knicks 17-8 in the period and finished a plus-nine (44-35) for the game.

Jimmy Butler led the Heat with 27 points, six rebounds and 10 assists on 9-of-17 shooting. Bam Adebayo had arguably his best offensive game of the postseason, finishing with 23 points and 13 rebounds on 10-of-17 shooting.

Max Strus tallied 16 points on 4-of-10 shooting with six boards; Kyle Lowry tallied 15 points, five rebounds and four assists, while Caleb Martin added 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting.

Similarly to Game 3, both teams posted similar shooting splits. Overall, the Heat shot 47.1 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from 3-point range (13-39). New York shot 47.1 percent on nine fewer attempts, including 9-of-28 (32.1 percent) from deep. Knicks finished with four additional turnovers which led to 22 points-off turnovers compared to the Knicks’ 15.

This is a developing story. Stay tuned for updates.