Butler, Heat start 2nd round with 108-101 win over Knicks

NEW YORK (AP)— Jimmy Butler had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and the No. 8-seededMiami Heat kept rolling after barely reaching the postseason,beating the New York Knicks 108-101 on Sunday in Game 1 of theEastern Conference semifinals.

Gabe Vincentscored 20 points for the Heat, who became the sixth No. 8 seed tobeat a No. 1 when they toppled Milwaukee in the first round andcontinue to look nothing like a team that needed to win a play-ingame just to get the final postseason berth in the East.

They averaged124 points in that series behind Butler’s 37.6 per game, but theypulled this one out with old-fashioned defense and rebounding thathas always worked so well before for them at this time of year.

RJ Barrettscored 26 points and Jalen Brunson had 25 for the fifth-seededKnicks, who are in the second round of the playoffs for the firsttime since 2013. They started strong and led most of the firsthalf, but the Heat eventually got the Madison Square Garden crowdquieter and quieter as the game went on.

Game 2 isTuesday night.

The Knickswere without All-Star forward Julius Randle because of a sprainedleft ankle and they surely missed him when the transition pointsdried up and it became a halfcourt game.

They could’veused his shooting on a day they went 7 for 34 behind the arc,missing a chance to break open the game early and then hinderingany chances of coming back.

The Heat fellbehind by 12 points in the second quarter, but that wasn’t going tofaze a team that eliminated deficits of 15 and then 16 points inthe last two games against Milwaukee. They gradually narrowed thedeficit before halftime, blew by the Knicks with a 21-5 run in thethird quarter and pulled away to a double-digit lead in thefourth.

They did itwithout needing the type of huge performances Butler delivered inthe first round, when he scored 56 and 42 points in the final twogames. He did plenty of other things they needed, includingremaining in the game after an ankle injury left him limping to thefree throw line with 5:05 to play.

He gave theHeat a good start in a renewal of what was once a fierce rivalry,with the teams meeting four straight years from 1997-2000. The Heatwon the last three of those but have work to do if they’re going totake this one.

GettingRandle back would be a good start. He reinjured his ankle in Game 5against Cleveland after missing the final five games of the regularseason and hadn’t done much since the Knicks returned to practice.He went through a workout before the game, but the Knicks ruled himout about 45 minutes before the start.

The Knickstore off a 22-6 run to finish the first quarter and take a 32-21lead. Six straight points pushed it to a 12-point advantage, andthe Knicks kept the margin around double digits most of the secondquarter, with the margin still 10 with under 2 minutes to play. Butthe Heat closed strong and cut it to 55-50 at the break.

New York led61-53 early in the third before Kevin Love converted a three-pointplay to trigger a 21-5 spurt by Miami. He added a 3-pointer duringit, but his biggest contribution was with his outlet passing. Withnew Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers sitting courtside, Love firedthree long passes for scores, with Butler’s basket on the last onecapping the run and giving the Heat a 74-66 lead.

TIP-INS

Heat: KyleLowry scored 18 points. Bam Adebayo had 16.

Knicks:Randle was originally hurt against the Heat in a victory at MSG onMarch 29. Earlier that month, he capped a 43-point performance witha 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds remaining in a 122-120 win at Miami.... Quentin Grimes had four points off the bench after missing thefinal two games against Cleveland with a bruised right shoulder.Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau opted to keep Josh Hart in the startinglineup.