The Japan Times - Butler injury fear as Heat beat Knicks in NBA series opener

Miami seized a 1-0 lead over the Knicks in the best-of-seven NBA second-round playoff series, which continues Tuesday at New York, but the focus of the next two days will be Butler's status.

"No idea," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "You just don't know with ankle sprains. I dont even know if we will know more by tomorrow. We'll just have to wait and see. It will be a waiting game."

Asked after the game how his sore ankle felt, Butler said, "Like a rolled ankle."

The final NBA second-round playoff berth will be decided later Sunday when the defending champion Golden State Warriors visit Sacramento for a tension-packed game seven in their Western Conference series.

There was an intense atmosphere for the Knicks and Heat at Madison Square Garden, which had not seen a second-round playoff contest since 2013.

Butler's heroics led Miami to a do or die win over Chicago in a play-in game and then to an upset over NBA wins leader Milwaukee in the first round.

"We're just playing great basketball," Butler said. "We believe that we can do something special. We're going to continue to play as such and we're going to see where we end up."

The game and Butler's ankle turned when Butler fell to the court grabbing the ankle with the Heat leading 95-92 and 5:05 to play.

As Butler planted his right foot to drive to the basket, falling Knicks defender Josh Hart's foot struck Butler's foot to cause the injury.

Butler limped to the bench but returned to make two free throws and remained in the game.

"He did not want to come out of the game so we left him in," Spoelstra said.

Often standing in a corner far from the run of play, Butler was largely stationary and the Knicks did not force him to try and actively defend.

"Find a way to win," Butler said of his reason for staying on the court. "Be out there. Be a presence. I didn't do too much except airball a three. But I'll take the dub (W)."

With Butler hindered, his Heat teammates stepped up. Gabe Vincent made a 3-pointer and Bam Adebayo and Kyle Lowry added hoops in a 7-0 run to give Miami a 104-94 edge.

"Our group has learned to compartmentalize and focus on the job at hand," Spoelstra said. "We've learned to get the job done."

- 'He's a winner' -

After a Knicks free throw ended a scoring drought of nearly four minutes, Lowry added two free throws to give the Heat it's largest lead at 106-95 just 43 seconds from the end.

"Kyle in the fourth quarter was so important," Spoelstra said. "We were able to get the ball to him and he made a lot of important plays."

Lowry scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half.

"He's a winner," Butler said. "He's our leader whether he's starting or coming off the bench. He's a champion. He has been doing a great job for us all year long. He's one of the engines that help us go and we're going to ride that wave."

The Knicks, who are 0-7 in the playoffs when losing the series opener at home, were led by 26 points from R.J. Barrett and 25 from Jalen Brunson.

The Knicks were without two-time All-Star forward Julius Randle, who was sidelined with a left ankle sprain. He suffered the injury in a victory over Miami last month and aggravated it in a first-round series-clinching triumph over Cleveland.

K.Tanaka--JT