ESPN's Mike Greenberg Doubles Down on Knicks' 'Weather' Woes in Miami

ESPN has apparently gone full Weather Channel in its analysis of the New York Knicks' struggle against the Miami Heat.

USA TODAY SPORTS

Some believe that the New York Knicks are having more trouble with the Miami heat rather than ... the Miami Heat?

The temperature's rising on the Knicks after Monday night, which saw them fall behind 3-1 in their best-of-seven NBA Playoff series against the Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals after a 109-101 loss at Kaseya Center. Miami improved to 4-0 at home in the NBA Playoffs this season, sweeping the South Beach pair of the series to date after earning a split at Madison Square Garden.

The Heat have been paced by the Knicks' failure to contain Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, but ESPN analysts seem to pin the blame on meteorology: after Jalen Rose originally brought up the theory that Miami's mid-spring temperatures were playing a role in the Knicks' struggle during halftime of Game 3 on Saturday, Mike Greenberg doubled down on it in the aftermath of Monday's heartbreaker.

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

“I know people will immediately associate (the Knicks' struggles) with the nightlife and all of that," Greenberg said in the Tuesday edition of "Get Up!" "But there’s also the reality of the temperature change, the heat, the geography, being down there for three days. It sort of saps a little bit of your energy and strength. We talk about that primarily in football. I know this is an indoor sport."

"But the Knicks, whatever it is, Jimmy Butler has just destroyed them." 

The apparent insistence that the Knicks' struggles could be blamed on the weather wasn't Greenberg's only lampooned take on Monday: earlier in the program, he unironically suggested that the Los Angeles Lakers, up 3-1 in their own conference semifinal set against Golden State, rest their starters for the upcoming fifth game of the series.

Fans of both the Knicks and Heat have expressed annoyance with the de facto weather reports: New Yorkers would rather blame their team's shortcomings for their deficit while Floridians say that their squad isn't getting the proper credit for their ongoing upset run that has them one win away from their third Eastern Conference Finals appearance in four years. 

there’s not a SINGLE Knicks fan who believes we’re down 3-1 because of the weather in Miami. Knicks fans are an extremely high basketball IQ fanbase and would never think of justifying the team’s performance with something this asinine https://t.co/EdeYeh0P5R

— Ashley Nicole Moss (@AshNicoleMoss) May 9, 2023

Continuing to push the narrative that Miami weather is too hot as the reason why the Heat are winning basketball games when they’re playing indoors in an air-conditioned arena is WILDLY insane & embarrassing.

Be better, ESPN.@hothothoops #HEATCulture 

pic.twitter.com/ZrmjyFps3J

— Matt Hanifan (@mph_824_) May 9, 2023

The Knicks get a chance to extend their season on Wednesday night when Game 5 is staged at MSG (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT).

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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