New York Knicks vs Miami Heat Prediction: Who will succeed in the first game?

New York and Miami took their first-round series very confidently, beating Cleveland and Milwaukee in five games, respectively. Who will succeed in the first game of the semi-final series?

The Knicks approached their first-round series with Cleveland as underdogs but managed not just to win the contest but did so in five games. The team could not work effectively on offense against their best defense of the season, but they found a defensive answer that allowed them to win the game. When New York finished the series (106:95), Julius Randle played only 16 minutes. But even without one of their leaders, the Knicks did well. We should note that the New York team advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since the 2012/13 season.

If New York's win over Cleveland was a foregone conclusion, Miami's victory over Milwaukee was a sensation. Jimmy Butler had a remarkable streak, averaging 37.6 points per game. Thanks largely to Butler, the Heat have won two straight games with a score of 2:1. Interestingly, Miami worked well on offense in this series. However, traditionally the team was purely defensive.

New York had a very low-scoring series with Cleveland, but they shouldn't overestimate that fact before their first game against Miami. After all, the Cavs have a top defense but have trouble playing offensively, and the Knicks had no other way to play them than to run away from the defense. In their series with Milwaukee and in the regular season, the Heat have shown that they are not as good on defense this season as they were in the past. However, with Jimi Butler in the lineup, they are capable of showing great play on offense once in a while. That's why we'd like to bet on a scoring game here. We expect the Heat to show maximum resistance to the Knicks in the first game after knocking off Milwaukee in the East.