Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo lead from the front as Miami Heat snap six-game losing streak

Yash Matange

Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo lead from the front as Miami Heat snap six-game losing streak image

Coming into this game, the Miami Heat had lost six straight — their longest losing streak since the beginning of the 2016-17 campaign. 

To make matters worse, a couple of minutes into the second half at the Madison Square Garden, the Knicks were leading this grind-out, defence-first game by seven (45-38), just a shade off their largest lead of nine.

That's when Jimmy Butler turned it on. 

Over the next 6:31 minutes, the Heat went on a 23-9 run that flipped the game on its head and Butler scored (13) or assisted on 18 of those. 

He scored 15 of his game-high 27 in the third quarter, one the Heat outscored the Knicks 39-21 and held on to win 98-88.

"Jimmy really just broke free, in semi-transition, to get going to start that third quarter," Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said postgame. "Once he was just able to get us the lead again, then other guys started feeling a lot more comfortable."

While also recording six assists and five rebounds, Butler finished with his third-best shooting (10-15 FGs) efficiency of the season so far. 

#Butlershotchart

"I made some shots with my left hand, which definitely don't happen very often," Butler said in his on-court postgame interview about his third quarter. "We were guarding, getting out into the open floor but more than anything was having fun."

Prior to the losing streak, during which the team had the second-worst defensive rating, the Heat were among the hottest teams in the league when they won 11 of 12. 

"It's on me and Jimmy to make sure when we up 15 and they cut it to eight, we got to keep that lead," the Heat's other star forward Bam Adebayo said postgame. 

After Butler's third-quarter domination, Adebayo put his stamp on the game in the final quarter. He scored or assisted on 13 of the team's 23 fourth-quarter points.

With the win, the Heat have swept the season series with the Knicks and continue their domination over the New York franchise, having won nine of their last 11

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Yash Matange

Yash Matange Photo