These Knicks are not your usual Tom Thibodeau team. They were pedestrian on defense (19th in the NBA in the regular season) but third in offensive rating, thanks to the scoring and steadying influence of Jalen Brunson.
The Heat’s game plan for Game 4 — make Brunson work the length of the court for everything, do not give him space, and dare any other Knick to step up and beat them — will get a lot of postgame attention. It worked — the Knicks’ offensive rating was 6.8 points below their season average. Brunson did well in the face of the pressure — 32 points and 11 assists — and RJ Barrett stepped up with 24.
However, the other end of the floor — where the Knicks struggled all season — did them in.
Miami had a 118.5 offensive rating — 5.5 above their season average — behind 27 points and 10 assists from Jimmy Butler. Miami outworked New York all night and kept making plays like this in the clutch, carving up the Knicks’ defense.
Caleb Martin throws it DOWN on the Knicks 😤 pic.twitter.com/oju02oFZZM
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 9, 2023
The result was a 109-101 Heat win in a game that didn’t feel as close as the final score. The Heat now have a commanding 3-1 series lead as the series heads back to New York for Game 5.
There were a few factors that went into this Heat win:
• The Knicks beat the Cavaliers to open the playoffs partly because they just played harder, as evidenced by Mitchell Robinson dominating the big Cavs front line on the glass. Not so against the notoriously physical, grinding Heat. In Game 4 the Heat had 13 offensive rebounds (37% of their missed shots), including six in the fourth quarter. It wasn’t one person, it was gang rebounding by the Heat that the Knicks couldn’t match.
• Bam Adebayo finished with 23 points and 13 boards. Max Stays added 16 and hit four 3-pointers.
• Kyle Lowry stepped up and was the player the Heat hoped he would be, particularly on the defensive end. He scored 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting and had key defensive plays around the rim.
• Julius Randle did not bring a consistent effort. He finished with 20 points and nine rebounds, but fouled out with 3:08 left in the game. He had some lazy defensive efforts on the night and missed impressive plays with ones where he had mentally checked out.
“Maybe they want it more? I don’t know,” Randle said postgame. “That’s been who we are all year and we’ve got to find a way to step up and make those plays if we want to keep the season alive.”
