Miami Heat vs New York Knicks betting tips and predictions for Monday’s NBA Playoffs game on TNT. After scoring a series low 86 points in Game 3, the Knicks are now under pressure to avoid going down 3-1 as they face the Heat in Game 4. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Miami Heat
It wasn’t the prettiest of games to watch, but the outcome is all that matters for the Heat as they grabbed a 2-1 lead in the series with a 105-86 victory on Saturday. Jimmy Butler made a triumphant return to the line-up with 28 points and 4 rebounds. Max Strus played arguably his best game of the postseason so far scoring 19, while Bam Adebayo added 17 and 12 rebounds.
The Heat shot under 39% in the win, while making just 7 of 32 threes, but if any team in the NBA thrives when there’s a low scoring game it’s Miami. They cannot afford to relax now though, and I don’t think they will. They’ve owned the Knicks at home winning 8 of the last 10 meetings in South Beach, in their last 7 games overall this they are 6-1 ATS in this building.
New York Knicks
If there was a point in time to hit the panic button for the Knicks, it should be ahead of tonight’s game. We all saw what happened to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Round 1 when they went down 3-1, so it will be crucial to avoid that scenario here if you’re New York. After a stellar performance in Game 3, Julius Randle was once again a non-factor on Saturday as he scored just 10 points on 4-for-15 shooting.
On a bummed ankle Jalen Brunson managed to put up 20, but as a team the Knicks shot just barely over 34% from the field. The loss was their 12th in the last 18 meetings against Miami, they are also just 1-4 ATS in the last 5 head-to-head. Something clearly isn’t working well against this team, so head coach Tom Thibodeau will have to make adjustments for Game 4.
Aside from Game 2 in which they didn’t have Jimmy Butler, Miami has been the better team all around. New York just seemed lost in Game 3 on the road, I would be shocked if they turned things around so quickly tonight. Let’s go with Miami to cover once more.
Miami Heat vs New York Knicks Predictions & Odds
Scoring has come at a premium in this series with 2 of the 3 games so far finishing under the total. Game 3 was a slug fest in which neither team could get it going, especially from three-point land where they combined to shoot 15-for-72. I’m confident they cannot do as bad in back-to-back games, especially since the over has cashed in 6 of the last 8 games for Miami. They are 25-21 on the O/U for the season when playing home as well.
With pretty much their season being on the line, the Knicks could opt for a radical move here and play without a typical center which would speed things up significantly. After all, let’s not forget we had 2 games of 242 and 247 points between these two teams during the regular season. I’m not saying we’ll go in the 240s here, but we should be able to see the two teams score at least 210 points. The projected total is at a very low 206.5 points, so I think backing the over is the way to go here.
