ESPN’s Mike Greenberg Believes Weather Has Led to Miami Heat’s Success Against New York Knicks

The Miami Heat’s improbable postseason journey continues after defeating the New York Knicks in Game 4 to take a commanding series lead.

It may still be too much for some to believe, which is why external factors are coming into the equation. Some fans brought up poor officiating, while ESPN analyst Mike Greenberg attributed South Florida weather to New York’s poor performance.

“A lot of conversation we had over the weekend on Countdown, particularly from Jalen [Rose], was how hard it is to go to Miami and play this time of year,” Greenberg said. “I know people will immediately associate that with the nightlife and all that, but according to Jalen, there’s more than that. There’s also just the reality of the temperature change, the heat, the geography, being down there for three days. It saps a little bit of your energy and your strength. We talk about that primarily in football. I know this is an indoor sport, but whatever it is, Jimmy Butler has just destroyed them. The Knicks all year were the team that played harder and wanted it more, and right now Miami looks like that team.”

ESPN’s Mike Greenberg thinks the weather in Miami is sapping energy out of the Knicks pic.twitter.com/viApZoU4pM
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) May 9, 2023

Many on social media immediately dismissed this narrative, pointing out the fact that the Heat play inside in an air-conditioned building.

true. It’s really tough, especially playing outside like they do. If they played in an air condition controlled environment we wouldn’t be having this conversation but unfortunately that’s not the case.
— Jordan Moore (@iJordanMoore) May 9, 2023

Even Tim Legler attributed Miami’s success to their offensive rebounding, saying that the Heat “stalled any momentum the Knicks could get” with the second and third chance opportunities.

After protecting home court, the Heat travel to New York for Game 5 to hopefully clinch the series. The Heat have a 14-0 franchise series record when leading 3-1, while the Knicks are 0-14.

We’ll see the weather is really a factor for the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jayden.armant@bison.howard.edu or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.