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The Miami Heat have listed Jimmy Butler as questionable for Game 2 following his right ankle injury late in the fourth quarter of Game 1. But the New York Knicks are facing a grimmer scenario ahead of a must-win Game 2 on their home floor.
Jalen Brunson joined Julius Randle (sprained left ankle) on the Knicks’ injury list as questionable with a sore right ankle.
Brunson looked sluggish in Game 1 despite scoring 25 points and issuing seven assists. He missed all his seven 3-point attempts and had an uncharacteristic game-high five turnovers, his most in this year’s playoffs.
Brunson owned the blame for the Knicks’ second-half collapse in Game 1, where they squandered a 12-point lead.
“[Miami] finished the third quarter strong,” Brunson told reporters after the game. “[They] Finished the second-quarter strong. There were key moments in the game where you need to finish strong and be strong, and that starts with me. [Sunday] was horrific. Very uncharacteristic of me, and this one is on me. I got to get better.”
Brunson has missed 14 games this season, primarily due to a foot injury. He skipped five games late in the regular season with a sore left foot. The Knicks are 7-7 without their star point guard.
Mitchell Robinson Posts Blunt Message After Game 1 Loss
Mitchell Robinson was disappointed in himself after the Knicks lost the series opener against the Heat.
“F*ck I gotta be better shake back 🙏,” Mitchell Robinson tweeted shortly after Sunday’s game.
Robinson was less effective in Game 1 against the Miami Heat than in the Cleveland series.
Heat big man Bam Adebayo presented more challenges than the Cavaliers’ twin towers of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley did. Robinson was a game-worst minus-13 in the series opener against the Heat despite logging in 14 rebounds, seven points and two blocks.
The Knicks only had four more second-chance points than the Heat in Game 1. Their shooting struggles from the outside (7-for-34) and five more turnovers than the Heat hastened their loss.
Draymond Green Believes Julius Randle Will Play in Game 2
With the Knicks back against the wall, Draymond Green believes Randle will play in Game 2 to avert what could be a disastrous 0-2 hole heading to Miami for Games 3 and 4.
“You definitely don’t want to go down 0-2 headed to South Beach,” Green said on his podcast The Volume. “I think with them losing 0-1—[Randle] he was shooting [Sunday]—he’ll be out there [in] Game 2. But, he’s missed some time these last few weeks, and rhythm and all of that starts to come into play, conditioning, fit because now they gotta fit him in. It’s not like you’re just sticking somebody. Julius has the ball a lot in that offense, so guys gotta find their spots and where they get their shots. So, it’s a lot of moving parts in that series.”
Randle tried his ankle during the pregame shootaround, but Tom Thibodeau revealed after the game that his All-Star forward and the team’s medical staff decided against playing.
“I don’t know how close [Randle was to playing]; I know he worked out before,” Thibodeau told reporters after the Game 1 loss. “I just trust him and the medical staff to make that decision. I planned both ways. I planned both ways. I planned with him going and planned if he didn’t go. Once they make a decision, that’s it, and you live with it and get ready with what you have, and we have more than enough.”
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