No, you don’t win games in the first half (the Heat didn’t pull away from the Knicks in Game 3 of their first-round playoff game last night until the fourth quarter), but sometimes, you can really lay the groundwork early. Just as the Heat did right before halftime of their 87-70 victory.
The sold out Garden crowd of 19,763 was rocking as if it were Ewing and Oakley and friends on the court. Loud, louder, splintered eardrum noise. With the bench doing a magnificent job, the Knicks led by 11 with under 2:00 remaining in the first half. Yeah, this series is going back to Miami.
Chris Bosh completes a monster dunk over the Knicks’ Baron Davis late in the first half of Game 3 of their playoff series last night. The shot sparked a mini run by Miami that cut the Knicks’ lead to four and sent the Heat to an 87-70 win and a 3-0 series lead." title="BOSH BOMB: The Heat’s Chris Bosh completes a monster dunk over the Knicks’ Baron Davis late in the first half of Game 3 of their playoff series last night. The shot sparked a mini run by Miami that cut the Knicks’ lead to four and sent the Heat to an 87-70 win and a 3-0 series lead." width="300" height="300" src="/rw/nypost/2012/05/04/sports/web_photos/04.3s081.kerber.c--300x300.jpg" />
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BOSH BOMB: The Heat’s Chris Bosh completes a monster dunk over the Knicks’ Baron Davis late in the first half of Game 3 of their playoff series last night. The shot sparked a mini run by Miami that cut the Knicks’ lead to four and sent the Heat to an 87-70 win and a 3-0 series lead.
But then Dwyane Wade found Chris Bosh for a dunk ...
And from, there, the Knicks undid much of what they had done to that point. Bosh’s score came with 1:22 left in the second quarter, but in the last 39 seconds of the half, Miami shaved five additional points off the Knicks’ lead and the home team crawled into halftime leading by only four.
Eventually, the Heat’s defense rose to Olympian stature and hammered the undermanned Knicks into 31.9 percent shooting and 30 second-half points. So Miami took a 3-0 lead in the series they hope to close out on Sunday.
“Especially in the playoffs, end of quarter situations are so important,” said Shane Battier, who LeBron James called "our player of the game," after his defense turned Carmelo Anthony inside out.
"And it can really give a team momentum and it can be deflating at the same time," Battier continued. "We always talk in a timeout, ‘Let’s bear down and really focus and get a little run.’ ”
Check. Check. Check.
“We did a great job of just chipping back,” said Dwyane Wade, who scored 20 points.
Anthony, who committed a dreadful judgment turnover, was called for a technical with 39 seconds left, James converting. James next scored with 27.7 left. Anthony then pounded the ball forever before passing to the corner — too late as a 24-second violation arose. And with 3.7 seconds left on the clock, Wade drove uncontested and converted at :0.06. Presto! An impressive 11-point Knicks lead became a very catchable four-point advantage at 40-36.
“ That minute and a half, right before the half,” interim coach Mike Woodson said with a sigh after the Knicks lost their NBA-record 13th straight playoff game, “gave them the momentum going into the half.”
Eventually, it gave them the game.
“That was an important period in the game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It started to get away from us. They got it to a double-digit lead and we were able to put together some stops and finish the half without throwing the ball to them.”
fred.kerber@nypost.com
Knicks, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, the Heat, Carmelo Anthony, Knicks’ Baron Davis, playoff game, playoff game, LeBron James, Shane Battier
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