For the first time in these playoffs, the Miami Heat offense looks like it ranked 25th in the regular season. The Heat scored just 105 points on 96 possessions (109.4 per 100) in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the New York Knicks, their worst offensive performance of the postseason.
In terms of scoring, it was the most 90's Knicks-hit game of the series so far, with the two teams shooting 15-for-72 (21%) from 3-point range. And the offense was much uglier on New York's end of the floor, where Jalen Brunson, RJ Barrett and Julius Randle all struggled to find a rhythm.
Jimmy Butler, meanwhile, returned from a one-game absence to lead all scorers with 28 points, and the Heat are now 10-2 in the last 12 games their star has been in uniform. More importantly, they are two wins from their third trip to the conference finals in four years with Butler on their squad.
The Knicks shot 8-for-40 from beyond the arc, 5-for-7 from the right corner and 3-for-33 elsewhere. They have now shot worse than 33% from 3-point range in seven of their eight playoff games (Game 2 of this series being the exception), which they did 33 times during the regular season (40% of their games).
But it was more than a make-or-miss league on Saturday. The Knicks didn't run a good offense, partly because the Heat were awful defensively and partly because the Knicks themselves didn't have the right mind set on that end of the floor.