Just think about the fact that it is the second round of the NBA Playoffs, and the Knicks are not only in the playoffs, but they’re actually the higher seed, and have homecourt! This is literally the second time that this has happened for the Knicks in almost thirty years! The 1993-94 Knicks had homecourt in the second round of the playoffs and then, the last time that the Knicks made the second round, in 2013 (thanks, Z-Man’s son!), they had the homecourt over the Pacers. Three times in nearly 30 years!! How insane is that?
Granted, this time it is only because of a flukish #8 seed over #1 seed upset, but, well, still, right? Holy shit!
But, of course, when they had homecourt in the 2013 Playoffs, they lost, so that shows you what will happen this time around.
The Knicks are bound to get swept by the Heat. That was, after all, what happened in 1999, when the Knicks themselves were the #8 seed who upset a #1 seed in the first round (the NBA didn’t care about the Heat, so they allowed the five-game series to remain back then, only going to seven games in the first round when it might have put the Los Angeles Lakers in danger). The Knicks then swept the #4-seeded Atlanta Hawks in the second round. So presumably the same will happen this time around, as well.
The Knicks and the Heat have played each other in the playoffs five times. The first four series all went the maximum length, but the Heat won the last one in 2012 in five games. The Knicks are up 3-2, so clearly, this both means that the Heat are due and that the trend is towards a sweep, so the Heat will likely sweep.
The Heat are playing without Tyler Herro this series, but the Kmicks are without Julius Randle in Game 1, so that, too, favors the Heat.
You have to give the Knicks a ton of credit getting this far. But credit only goes so far, and the Heat will collect the bill in this series. I’d predict the Heat in three games, but that is not a possibility, so instead, the Heat will win in four games.
However, while the Knicks are doomed, I will still say (not that it matters at all), let’s go, Knicks!
556 replies on “2023 Playoffs Game Thread – Knicks vs. Heat, Game 1”
Grimes Times!
DOOM!! DOOM!!
Also, congrats Alan!! That must be it’s own special kind of wonderful
Let’s Go DOOMED!
“Just think about the fact that it is the second round of the NBA Playoffs, and the Knicks are not only in the playoffs, but they’re actually the higher seed, and have homecourt! This is literally the first time that this has happened for the Knicks in almost thirty years! The 1993-94 Knicks are literally the last Knicks team to have homecourt in the second round of the playoffs. How fucking bonkers is that?”
My son just correctly pointed out that in 2013 we were the higher seed and had home court in the second round vs. the Pacers…but still!
Oh shit, I thought they were #3 and the Pacers were #2. My bad, I’ll fix! Thanks for the head’s up. Even more reason to believe that the Knicks are doomed!
One of the many disappointing parts of that playoff run
Mazel tov, Alan! I think there’s a life before our children and a life after, where our own goals are 2nd to the goals of our kids. You must be ecstatic, Alan, congrats again to you, and congrats to your son too. 🙂
Gentlemen, start your DOOOM!!!
Ready
I don’t care about homecourt advantage, in the first 10 years i was a fan (1991 to 2000) the Knicks missed the 2nd round only once, and in the 23 years since this is only the 2nd time we’re doing it. I’m gonna enjoy this, and if we can win and go to the ECF, even better! 🙂
Gooooo doomed Knicks! 🏀
I have a bad feeling about this game.
Double and trap butler every time…. Let’s go Knicks!!
My early feeling is that it will come down to keeping key players out of foul trouble, most importantly Josh Hart.
Key will be which Mitch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l9w7DVcp98
Ugh Doris Burke.
Gotta believe the moms of both IQ and Obi are there, right? So … Let’s go!
How happy are the Europeans about the 1 PM game start?
Go Knicks!!!
Knicks in six, though I think we lose one of the first two
Don’t send them to the ft line
Send them home
Brian’s too scared to say it, so I will: Heat in 3. Technically not possible, but somehow they’ll find a way.
Here’s to maaaaybe 42 wins and the play-in.
What a great year. We are so very doomed.
I still can’t believe the Cavs just gave away Kevin Love and now he’s starting in the second round and they’re all at home.
Not me, i like the games later, they don’t mess with the games of my soccer team. And also i think we have a bad record on matinees. But let’s win this! We’re in the 2nd round and i’m happy!
Uncharted waters. Go Knicks!
Well here comes the Gabe Vincent career series, we’re doomed
Wake up, guys, please
That’s probably not your shot, Jalen.
That’s more like your shot, Jalen.
Good call, Bruno.
I’ve a hard choice to make between Doris’ weak broadcast and the italian one, that is good but has the MSG crowd very low…
We’re coming babes!
Why was he wide open there?
Crowd is very hyped
Playoff Gabe
Star J
Fucking Owen
^ my reaction to all 8 gabe vincent points
Mitch!!
Fix the D and we’re good
I love “Mitch was arguably one of the top three players for the Knicks in the Cleveland series.” What a weird compliment.
The Knicks offense needs to run thru RJ alot more especially if Vincent is guarding him.
Seems like such an ill-advised idea to have Vincent on RJ, right?
@Cyber
Please, don’t call it soccer, come on! 😉
You can’t stop Playoff Gabe with foreshadowing
Not the best start, but we’re getting there
RJ playing amazing ball right now
The playoffs, where you separate the staRJs from the RJs!!
Doesn’t this Heat team remind you of some of those late 1990s Knicks teams, where it’s, like, “Sure, it’d be great to win this series, but you know you can’t win the whole thing,” right?
Hahaha. I’m used to say soccer when talking to americans, and football with everybody else. 😛
They will win this series, though, of course.
This crew seems like they just discovered there was still a basketball team in NY
Great defense by Hart on Butler.
Lead!
Hart making a statement on Jimmy! Love it! 😀
Ewing in the building!
I would prefer some AI announcer than this hot air…
Some of these Gabe Vincent three attempts are, like, what the fuck?
There’s a mixed audience here so please use the correct term… 😉
The Canadian Kid is doing Canadian Kid’s things, nice…
RJ is impressive!
Is it just me, or is Love as the 5 not the win that Miami thinks it is. Yes, Love stretches the offense and keeps Mitch on the outside, but who the heck is going to keep Mitch off the offensive boards?
The arcs on these Heat threes are embarrassing as heck. There are no chance on them connecting as soon as they are released.
Crowd giving me chills.
Sounds like the nineties
New and improved RJB!
ArrrghJayy!!!
The new RJ forces the other team to take a timeout. What’s this world we are living now?
I think it’s working on offense, except the Heat aren’t even coming close to hitting the open looks from beyond the arc they’re getting from these sets. The sets are sound, the players are just shitting their pants.
Also when Love is at the 4 and guarding Obi, the Knicks have the find the way to exploit the match-up of their most athletic player vs. the Heat’s least.
I don’t know if Mitch ever blocked a Love 3pter back in the day, but Love looked like he had a flashback to Mitch throwing it into the 4th row
RJ is worth the money even if he only
plays like this during the playoffs lol
This phoenix rising from the ashes stuff is fun!
Heat wings are much better defensively than the Cavs especially with Herro out, might be a tough series for Brunson.
I sort of feel like prime Beastie Boys would find a way to work “RJ Barrett” into one of their tunes.
Yeah, you have to love the Heat seeming like they have no answer for RJ.
Butler has been oddly non-aggressive, right? It’s like he’s deferring to Gabe fucking Vincent.
“Barrett is loose,” is not something I enjoy hearing, but today? Playoff RJ is here despite us having no chance to win this game at all.
Score is like the 90s too
Man if the Miami offense is geared towards multiple Gabe Vincent shot attempts, we’re in pretty good shape
I mean, we’re doomed
Looking like the Gabe Vincent series, just not in the way we meant above
Keep shooting those threes, Heat1 Keep shooting those threes!
Obi!!!!
JB’s 1-7, we need him to calm down because the others are play great…
DOOMED
Obi is playing well
RJ!!!!
Great defense I-Hart!
Obi from three!!!
PLAYOFF RJ
If RJ starts making 3s as well that’s gonna be nuts
What a shot by Obi. The RJ three before it was even nicer.
RJesus!! (cuz he’s back from the dead)
Wowwweeeee!!!
If you have RJ you’re a candidate to win any series! 😀
The Heat’s shots are so hilariously bad. Butler is lucky he got bailed out with the foul.
RJ played his ass off during that shift!
I am delirious right now
I think that ref just literally accidentally pointed the wrong way on possession.
Screw the beam. The Mecca is Lit! This place is loud! And “Playoff RJ” is a thing.
Fantastic 1st quarter for the Canadian Kid (and Obi and J-Hart)
Obi looks like he finally got the awe of starting in a playoff game out of his head and is ready to play some ball!
This reminds me of Game 1, where the Cavs couldn’t hit a shot to save their lives. And the Knicks get the ball to start the second!
Wow
WHAT A FUCKING GREAT FIRST Q!!!!!
Mooooore!!!
Wow that was a burst
The Heat look like a team that doesn’t know how to play transition defense.
I think it’s really just a matter of the Heat simply not having the personnel to hang with the Knicks’ “bigs.” They can fuck with Brunson pretty easily, but not RJ, Hart, iHart and Obi.
Long term we definitely need Julius, but man, does the offense flow without him.
LFG
iHART with an immediate impact, blocking the shit out of Bam and then following JHart’s miss. (although I have no idea why JHart shot that…)
Want to remind everyone that we’re DOOMED. Heat (AKA Jimmy) is a 2nd half team.
Playoff RJ!!!
Let’s go boys
Incredible energy right now I’ve got chills
Not gonna lie there were a few moments early on — like when gabe vincent was beating us 5-0 — where the doomed stuff felt a little less ironic but we righted the ship fast and things are looking very good.
The second unit battle is a mismatch.
Josh Hart is literally the best trade deadline acquisition for the Knicks in my life
Also like RNG… Never know what’s coming up
There was a moment there with Obi on the dribble where he looked like a racehorse in the starting gate, just too much adrenaline and contained speed. If he ever develops a sure handle, OMG.
I love Obi. Don’t trade him!!!
What was Bam thinking on that shot?!
So precise we say it twice:
“Finally, Mitch is out!!! Oh, wait, F@%#!!”
Don’t think they’ll dare Grimes to shoot that a second time!
Thibs with the Bobby Portis Eyes
Omigod RJ
First defensive slip from Obi I saw
Otherwise been solid
Might be time to sit Obi and go small for a bit.
How do you foul Bam and still let him get the rebound? So odd.
It is insane to watch the RJ Barrett we were promised out of nowhere in the playoffs
We don’t fear this team…look at what they have out on the floor right now…
Impressive play so far from the Canadian Kid, and it’s not only the shooting… now a well deserved rest
Breen has to be watching this thinking what the hell did I do to deserve this
Playing well. We’re the best high energy team in the league.
Brunson is a bit bewildered….he’ll figure it out…
While the Heat will come back and win this, it’s kind of crazy how bad their bench is. Their starting lineup is thin, but their bench is gaunt as fuck.
Up 12 with Brunson playing poorly. Huh.
Yeah Owen, this should be Breen’s call. I’m guessing he’s got game 7 next though.
Obi winded. (never thought I would type that sentence).
Last thing I was expecting was that Obi would play the first 17 minutes.
I still can’t get over this. A shitty season, shitty first 2 playoff games and now he’s our MVP.
Never saw this coming in a million years
I want to say something else, but discipline compels me to post instead that we are DOOMED
I did not realize that Eminem was on the Heat bench
Jimmy is so smart, the way he got ahead of Hart for the easy 2P. I’d love him on our side.
It must be killing the Heat right now, as they are outworking the Knicks this quarter, but the Knicks are just more talented than them, so they’re not getting anywhere.
Still waiting for the Knicks to have a hot 3pt shooting game.
Never forget, the Heat never die and the Knicks are DOOMED…
Such hustle by Hart!
Great effort by J-Hart!
Don’t be hurt Mitch
He’s here; he’s there; he’s every-fucking-where, Josh Hart
Lol Jones and Burke acting like they’ve never seen an up and under layup before with Martin.
IQ is completely invisible on offense.
There he is!
Quickley can’t stop himself from fouling three point shooters…
fucking owen
Wow, I knew Burke would say Shane Battier. Hilarious.
EDITED TO ADD: Actually, I guess just as soon as she said “You know who was good at closing out without fouling?” and I automatically thought Shane Battier. He really was awesome at those high basketball IQ plays.
Doris Burke is a national basketball announcer; nevertheless, 85%+ of the time she refers to a player, she uses his first name only, like she’s a spinster 8th grade English teacher.
I do not like it.
WTF IQ
Mitch still limping. I don’t like it. IQ makes that foul once a game (if we’re lucky).
Does IQ lead the league in dumb fouls against 3pt shooters?
Dumb foul from quick, he wasn’t even contesting really
As Teddy KGB would say “Hanging around, hanging around”
Barrett vs. Vincent in the slugfest of the year.
It’s going to be one of those halftimes where we have the lead and don’t feel good about it. We’re DOOMED
It was a dumb foul, to be sure, but I think it was a normal dumb foul. It’s hard to pull your hand back like that. He’s a professional, so he should be able to, but I get that it is hard to do.
Biggest disappointment so far during the playoffs by far has been IQ. Dunno WTF has been up with him.
The Heat are definitely outworking the Knicks this quarter, though. But fuck you, hard workers, the lazy grasshopper has the lead, and just needs to hit some shots to fuck you.
We should be winning by more but we’re shouting even worse from 3 than Miami and they’re getting bailed out by some dumb stuff like that IQ foul. But in a low scoring game a 7 point lead is actually a lot
How was that behind the line?!
OMG Jalen Brunson out-dumbing Quickley…
Get that shit out of here
What sucks is that Mitch blocked it beautifully, a textbook block, and it just went to the wrong guy.
Why is fucking Tony Brothers still employed?
Lots of brain farts…
Good, they overturned the call.
Lots of dumb right now
That was amazing watching Butler get freaked out by Mitch!
Mitch has these guys shitting their pants
The announcer said “he goes 2 for 3” !? 😮
Love Brunson emasculating lowry
Quickley’s playing for shit.
How fucking embarrassing was that for him? How are you not watching the game, buddy?!
Iq has no iq right now
This feels like a textbook loss, we’re clearly doomed
What a fucking awful end to the half.
Too many dumb plays…last possession type game
That penetration/pass to the middle then lob to Mitch has been there all day, hope they go to it more in the second half
Well, as i use to say, we just need to be up 1 in the end. So this is going great.
Spoelstra has to be thrilled with the score at half time the way his team played.
Big three from Lowry and clutch bucket from Bam. Big swing.
Think if we stop making stupid mistakes we’re going to run them in the 2nd half. We’re doomed though
ABC, Please don’t ask RJ about his shot.
I feel like we should be up by a lot more but a combo of wide-open missed 3s by Grimes and Obi, bad turnovers, and lucky breaks is keeping things close.
One thing is for sure, though. MIA is not CLE. The pressure isn’t rattling them at all, nor is the MSG crowd.
The second half of doom approaches.
Even though we’re doomed I hope we tire Miami out.
We played not great, and still have the lead. We need to clean up the turnovers! Way too many sloppy ones, a few by brunson
I blame Aaron Rodgers on the sideline
The only thing that made me mad in that second quarter was that Josh Hart was the only Knick not outworked by the Heat. Mitch played well, and Brunson scored at will, but neither were hustle plays, ya know? The Heat were making all of the hustle plays, and that’s the hallmark of the Knicks, not their opponent. I don’t like seeing that.
We’re losing the ORB battle and tied in TOs. Not good.
Also losing in FTs.
Watching Butler et al say “All I care about is winning,” I kind of wish they had asked Melo, and he had said, “All I care about is averaging 25 per game and going out for dinner.”
It totally reminds me of the 1990s series, where clearly neither team gave a fuck about the crowd.
Obi 1-5 from 3, not bueno.
Being up just 5 feels bad. Spo is going to make some adjustments at halftime. And I’m low-key terrified that Jimmy Butler conserved his energy in that half so he could turn into Mega Jimmy in the 2nd.
They’re being outworked. It’s fucking infuriating.
I don’t think it can be said enough: SAS is a know-nothing clown and fair-weather fan at best. He can fuck the hell off.
It’ll be fascinating to see if he has any real solution for the iso-Brunson. The iso-Brunson was killing them. Brunson just held the ball for 18 seconds and then scored at will as the shot clock winded down. The Heat burned all of their energy and then Brunson just makes the easy bucket. I’m curious as to what Spo plans around that in the second half, as he can’t keep allowing that to happen, right?
Yeah, Miami is doing some type of rope-a-dope with Jimmy
Obi is a +12 and it isn’t accidental. He’s missed a couple threes but has been solid otherwise.
By the way, though, it has been a long, long time since the Knicks had possibly the best iso player on the court (and if not the best one, with Jimmy being #1, at least it is a close call). It’s a really nice feeling. I guess iso-Melo was possibly better than George in 2013…or was he? I just hated iso-Melo. Iso-Brunson is so much nicer to watch. It seems so much more controlled.
Butler does this often, he’ll spend a quarter or a half trying to set up his scrub teammates and when it doesn’t work he gets the ball. I’m anxious.
The Heat aren’t afraid and have a top-3 coach (if not the best).
We must absolutely stop the brain farts and start winning the 50%-50% balls again…
Knicks need to start making their 3pters, not just for today but for the rest of this series.
Iso-Brunson always has the potential to end with an assist. Iso-Melo, not so much.
Obi with a great move!
Why Mitch, why?
I’ll have what RJ is having
Yeah, exactly.
I think he’s the best. Always wanted him, but seems like he’ll have his career in Miami.
RJ’s shots are looking so fucking pure.
3-18 on three after JB’s miss, no good…
I guess Hart couldn’t leave Jimmy on that penetration, but once RJ was beat Mitch was in trouble with two guys to guard
I don’t like the timeout there. It just lets the Heat celebrate the 8-0 run.
We should have 9 more points, then. 🙁
We’re DOOMED but if we can’t buy a three we’re FUCKING DOOMED…
The sense of doom is beginning to feel more literal than comical.
It was nice believing for a while, I’ll take it, a 2nd round sweep was to be expected anyway.
Man, when Mitch got that rebound….oooph, that three needed to land! And then they even got the rebound on that miss, and Hart just lost it.
Knicks need Randle.
Mitch is laboring, wincing, he’s got some sort of back-hip issue.
If we make one more 3 we might just win!
Brian!!! We’re doomed. His shot is doomed. Everything is doomed.
The camera work on ABC is annoying….
They are doomed! RJ’s shot just looked pure as they were doomed!
Ugly turnaround
So fucking annoying.
Huge three by Obi. They were daring him to take that.
Kevin Love hates the Knicks…
Let’s settle down, we’re better than them
Now, that‘s when you call a timeout.
This is getting disturbing…
Heat in 6, maybe 5.
Maybe the Cavs could have used Love
I understand the theory of getting away from the iso-Brunson to diversify, but come on, dudes, they clearly want you to get away from it, so re-commit to it!
Mitch looking gimpy gotta put I Hart in. And also for the love of god stop the K Love outlets
Mitch not 100%
Ok, now seriously, this is over.
Where is the intensity from the first round? Why are we just chucking threes and not running back on defense? You can’t do all that shit to beat up the soft ass Cavs and expect Miami to fold over the same way, they’ll punch back every time.
Wow Heat smacking us in the face. Need to respond right now.
Well this sucks.
We’re outworked
Cavs have to be the dumbest team in the league for letting Love go
Knicks are getting out worked.
We need grimes and iq in the game, we can’t make any shots … And we need to step up the D!
It seems like its our turn to be the deer in the headlights….hopefully just a 1-game thing.
Butler is a maestro out there…it’s like he isn’t even working hard.
I will be extremely impressed if we win this game.
That is the only positive feeling I can muster.
I’m watching the game intently, so have not read this game thread. Did we acquire a new player at the end of the regular season? Who is this Barrett guy? He’s pretty decent, eh?
Iso Brunson when Butler is guarding him doesn’t work that well. Knicks need Randle back ASAP.
Time to punch back
It’s not just that MIA is winning, it’s that they have had like 10 easy baskets in a row…
For almost two straight quarters now.
This is the test. RE-group.
Put Mitch on the bench…
Ooph, Mitch.
This has been a bad start to the half. And I disagree that we should go back to Iso-Brunson; the offense has been stagnant as is and Brunson has scored 17 points on 16 shots.
OBI!
What a turnaround!!!
De-fense! De-fense!
Let’s Go Atomic Cockroaches!
Iso-Brunson is the key.
GREAT response out of the TO!
Wish they could let us know if Butler actually was fouled on the play the ABC camera fucking missed.
Butler now guarding JB, and yet he scores….
I love this team
Yeah game over man
Seriously, have you guys been watching this team all year? We never capitulate
Who said we were out of the game??
That’s it boys!
Keep working hard till the end!
100% on the AAA film crew
Oh God they just showed ARod now we’re definitely fucked lol
How did that not drop?
Thibs, sit Mitch, he can get really injured if he keeps playing so many minutes. We have iHart.
What a dumb three by martin.
I love the guy, but I never thought the default offense would be to live with Obi’s three point shooting.
Also bc it feels like they have an ace in the hole (Butler) while we played all our cards.
I’m not out on this game, but it is going to take something extraordinary to turn it around. We might have that in us, I don’t know. It would be something we’ve never seen before, though.
Oh, an RJ-an turnover, I forgot about them…
Zeller was hilarious on the miss. He didn’t look for the rebound at all!
Fucking rj…give the ball up on the break
What were you thinking there, Hart?!
Lowry destroying IQ off the bench is not ideal.
We win this game because we suddenly get hot from three, which we won’t, or the Heat go ice cold, which they won’t, so we’re doomed.
Small problem…we can’t shoot
Randle isn’t out there, so Brunson had to pick up the T slack.
I’m at the aquarium with my kid and he’s being 11/10 annoying.
Looks like I made the right choice about how to spend my morning.
Why isn’t Lowry taking the technical? I hate that star shit.
Modern basketball is pathetic. Whoever is hitting their 3s wins. There’s way too much randomness built into the game.
Big turnaround there, since the Heat get the ball to start the fourth.
Gonna be very difficult to win shooting 17% from 3
Ball don’t lie motherfucker!
They’re packing the paint because we can’t hit a lick,
we desperately need to start hitting some shots from long range…
We’re still in it. This team doesn’t quit.
Man, fuck these Chick-fil-a commercials so bad.
Not over by any means.
It’s clear that if the series becomes a 3pt shooting contest we are seriously doomed…
ISM switching sides before game 1 was such a brutal betrayal.
Why is grimes not in there? love hart but is shot is off and he’s really tentative on offense out there
Unfortunately Ewing, Houston and Starks are in the stands and not playing.
Also, that might have been brunsons first t of the season?
5-29 and it’s not like any of them were contested.
Might be time to make a few fellas.
Patience and Energy
Let’s get this shit!
Maybe Fournier should start warming up…
Seems like Grime Time
Huge three off of the turnover!
We desperately need IQ to not suck
So I guess they’re just going to allow Miami to mug JB every time he goes to the hole.
Grimes is probably hurting.
I also agree with the “make threes” strategy
The Heat had the ball, up eight, but made a terrible pass, and now the Knicks have the ball down five. Love transitions.
I feel like Jones is going to “laces it” a bit much
Why does ABC feel the need to cut to celebrities after every play
Someone want to tell Thibs he can coach during the game?
All these shots of him standing on the sidelines scowling with his arms crossed are not very inspiring.
How expensive is that IQ contract extension looking now?
IQ’s on peyote again… bad defense too…
iHart, you can’t let him get you up like that!
Jones isn’t very good period.
No T after this theatre from Lowry?
Horseshit officiating.
Please stfu Doris he fouled the shit out of Hart
RJ got fouled and that’s not a foul, ref. Get it together. Fuck sakes.
Where’s Star J when you need him?
These refs, nah
How did they miss that call?
“Is there a swipe with the left hand?” Come onnnnn
I thought both calls were bad, but whatever.
What a dumb foul by Vincent.
Refs have lost it completely
The Canadian Guy is good, RJ Barrett is bad.
The refs are the worst.
I really don’t get the Heat’s offensive strategy right now. Up 7, they should be going to the hoop, not taking so many outside shots. It’s really helped the Knicks a lot.
Whether or not a foul is called is now completely random.
We need to figure out the refs are not going to give us any calls and adjust accordingly
All we need is a run
Need Brunson back in there.
Beginning to get 2013 vs Indiana vibes.
That was a dumb shot by RJ but a foul’s a foul
RJ needs to find that mental sweet spot. He’s had three dumb plays this half. No one playing well though.
We are one run (doom) away from taking this back. Come on Knicks!!
“Beginning to get 2013 vs Indiana vibes.”
That was an all-in team that was expected to contend for the finals. This is a house money situation. I know we are favored, but if the Heat play like this they are going to be tough to beat.
Mitch!!!
Mitch agrees.
Heat offensive strategy is to get Lowry and Jimmy to the foul line.
We can do this, guys. We just need 6 minutes of crowd-fueled suffocating defense and some ugly hoops.
I love that Robinson can’t buy a three.
Why is Robinson even on the court for the Heat?
Why block a shot that already hit the backboard? Thanks Bam! 🙂
Duncan Robinson played a shitty few minutes, huh?
So many bad calls
Of course it’s a shooting foul, Jones — pay attention. Damn.
Big free throws by RJ!
I blame ARod being at the game.
Mark Jones might be the worst play by play guy in the business
If Jimmy is hurt, well, that’s very helpful for the Knicks. Sorry, Jimmy!
Gonna have to mute Doris, can’t take this bs anymore
That changes the whole series. So now the Knicks will lose in 5.
Shiiiiiiiiiiit
Damn. I really don’t want Butler to be hurt bad.
How does Mark Jones have a job?!
Josh Zabka
Julius is now ankle brother with Jimmy
That’s what Butler gets for always seeking contact on his drives to draw cheap fouls.
Ugh. I genuinely hope he’s okay.
The doom is glooming
Doris is not good, but she ain’t going anywhere so whatever…
Not the way I want the Knicks to win this series.
Can you even imagine if the Heat lose Butler? The Knicks would have luck that we haven’t seen from them in, like, ever.
But, of course, the Heat will still win without Butler.
I think butler will be fine. Didn’t seem like an ankle roll. Probably just painful
Yeah, I want to play them with Butler.
I hope he’s okay, but it doesn’t look good. I want the Knicks to win with Butler on the court.
Jimmy is as resilient as they come, but it looks very Julius-like…
Major Cobra Kai energy but butler did knock him over
Hate to see that, Knicks fan or not.
I give up, can’t stand Doris and Jones anymore.
I genuinely hope he’s only as okay as Julius Randle.
I don’t want Butler to be hurt, but, I mean, come on, if he’s hurt, he’s hurt, that’s still good news for the Knicks (they’ll still lose this series).
At least that was just a basketball play and nothing done on purpose.
Josh was trying to simulate the foul and his legs got away from him.
These two are the worst
Mitch! Fuck!
Brutal turnaround for the game…
FUCKING OWEN!!!!!
That really should have been a four-point play for Vincent.
OWEN!!!!!!!!!
Shortest jump in history
And here comes RJ Barrett… sigh
That’s a tough offensive foul by RJ.
Caleb Martin has straight up taken this game over by making RJ Barrett his bitch.
Hard to believe there’s still 4 minutes left in this game
Ducking hell
The weird thing for the Heat is that they might be better off just letting Butler play through this, because if he rests, that ankle will swell.
Absolutely falling apart.
RJ Jesus Christ
Losing our poise. Mitch was way out of position there. RJ with the predictable move. Clear offensive foul by RJ. Brunson getting tied up. All rookie mistakes.
Man, those slap aways and dumb offensive fouls( even if the refs suck)
RJ is back…
My takes are pristine as always
This game has felt like we are not coming back for a while now
Caleb coaxed two consecutive turnovers from RJ.
We’ll best case now is 2-2 back at MSG for game 5
Embarrassing losing to Vincent and the corpse of Kyle Lowry.
Make it three straight Barrett turnovers.
Well, this is where we see the value in making adjustments in game. Spo does it, Thibs not so much. But Thibs will do it between games.
Well, always a tale of two halves with RJ
Make it four.
RJ is dumber than Randle
Oh great, Mitch free throws.
Welp
RJ Barrett has lost the Knicks the game this quarter.
Why the f*ck do they go at Lowry with the ball within his reach??
Wtf is Doris talking about
Doris doesn’t shut up!!! I only can stand her when we’re winning! LOL
The phoenix rose from the ashes and then promptly fell right back into it…
well…in this series…we certainly don’t have the best player anymore and definitely not the better coach…but if we can’t make shots….c’est la vie….
Spo is such a fucking visionary coach.
lowery punked Knicks down the stretch.
Can’t believe Brunson isn’t getting the opportunity to close out.
Knicks in 6
7-31 from three ain’t gonna cut it, everything else doesn’t matter if you can’t hit a fucking shot….
Game was lost on that Mitch fumbled rebound. Game iced NY RJ
We talk about the Knicks getting Barrett “back” out of nowhere, but that’s the same thing for the Heat with Lowry, right?
The definition of hell – a home loss to the Heat in the playoffs and the game being called by Mark Jones and Doris Burke.
Regroup and get the next one.
Need way more from J-Hart, Grimes, Quickley — especially the last two.
I’d have played Toppin a few more minutes.
Shitty loss.
Yes, it was unforgivable…
I do believe that I just saw Mitchell Robinson shoot free throws for the first time ever. Wow.
Knicks having homecourt advantage was a curse considering how bad they’ve been at home all season.
Long series. Get the big fella back. Comically easy to win in Miami.
How many free throws have we missed today?
At the end of the day, we can’t win if we shoot 22.6% from 3.
On the positive side, we just beat the Cavs easily 3 in a row and we might have gotten a bit full of ourselves. We have to play much better than we did against them to beat this team.
This is likely gonna be a long, grueling series.
What was that, like triple-dribble by Lowry?
Played the last 4.5 minutes 5 on 4.5 and couldnt dent the lead.
Kyle Lowry being the best player on the court during the 4th quarter is perfect lol Knicks
Well it was a fun year
Well, that was rough
Rowan started picturing that Playoff RJ headline at halftime
I think hart forget how to shoot the basketball
I don’t think we’ll keep shooting this bad from 3P, right? And when we shoot this bad, of course the L was just around the corner.
Pfffft.
Gotta get the meaningless bucket at the end for RJ. I would almost think he was just shy of 20 points.
Did the refs waited to call the foul when the ball was with Lowry? It didn’t matter, but we had fouled before it.
If he’s old school Kyle Lowry, it definitely changes the Heat, right?
Can’t do much about all the good 3s we missed but the inept last 6 or 7 minutes was disgusting
Shoot 30% from 3 and win the game. They clogged the paint and we couldn’t make them pay. Gotta win game 2.
The only player who was bad for the Heat was Duncan Robinson.
For the Knicks? Where do I start….
From the moment Butler came back on to the court after the injury, the Knicks just fell apart.
It’s just one game but it was sobering.
Thibs wasn’t bad, per se, but he was useless.
Spoelstra coached, Thibs watched.
Could be a blessing in disguise, not sure I’d want to see a 7 game series vs Boston.
Nobody on the Knicks can shoot. We’re gonna need to play a lot of Obi if IQ & RJ insist on bricking everything.
Im not worried—in the grand scheme of things that win required is missing Randle and every three pointer
I wouldn’t overreact—that game really was lost due to 3 point variance and some careless mistakes.
This isn’t specific to Thibs, but fuck, man, do I hate how coaches always just give up going for the win late because it could look bad. Just foul and jack up threes for the last minute. That’s the only way you can possibly win, but coaches never do it.
I said it at the end of the Cavs series: outside shooting HAS to get better for the Knicks to have a chance. When the Heat took away the paint in the second half, the Knicks had no answer. They were abysmal from the 3pt line (20%) which let them to persist driving and missing contested shots, having them blocked, or turning the ball over. That let to the Heat scoring 58 points in the second half. Heat experience played a huge part. They played composed. Lowry, Love, and Butler made a lot of winning plays for them. Very poor second half performance for the Knicks.
Luckily, he was really bad.
@Cyber, I don’t want to check (because I’m annoyed as Hell by the game) but the italian announcers said that we shot 28% from three in the 5 games against the Cavs, that’s why the Heat gave us so many open looks.
We beat the Cavs because we scared them and won the hustle battles, it’s harder to do it against a hardened veterans team as the Heat, you need to be perfect and we weren’t.
Back to work and let’s win game-2.
The Miami ship is run far better than the Cleveland ship. It’s not even close, really.
Grimes needs to be in there and he & Quick need to just bomb 3s with abandon. I never understand why they don’t try this
I accidentally left the volume on. The announcer just said:
“This win was for Alonzo Mourning. For Dan Majerle. For Tim Hardaway.. For Heat Culture.”
I’mma need to meditate before I brake something.
A few too many TOs, we couldn’t hit anything from 3, and they did a better job keeping our edge on the offensive boards to a minimum than the Cavs and most other teams during the regular season.
I didn’t notice because I was listening on the radio for part of the game, but I suspect they probably also made some good adjustments on RJ in the 2nd half. Maybe someone else noticed???
We aren’t a very good 3 point shooting team, but we aren’t this bad either. It was mostly noise that’s part of the modern game.
The Heat of a very good and very well coached team. Watch the game film, make some adjustments, hopefully Randle is back, and we hit some 3s next time. No time to panic. It’s one game.
Not exactly how we want to start this series. Miami hit 6 more 3s on 5 more attempts and 11 more FTs on 9 more attempts; that’s 29 points in a game they won by 7. And Miami won the the TO battle which has been one of our strengths this season.
Yeah, that was the dumbest, most forced and pre-planned thing I’ve ever heard. Awful.
Days like today I hate living in fucking Miami.
I get that RJ bumbled his way through the last 6 minutes but without him the game would have been a blowout. I’ll take that stat line from him.
Same with Obi, he definitely did his job.
If there’s a goat of the game, it’s probably Brunson. 0-7 from 3, 5 TOs…both PGs for MIA outplayed him.
We got absolutely nothing from our bench. That needs to change.
I am interested to see how we respond after being down in the playoffs for the first time.
We all know that at MSG, when the star player is limping his way to play the game, his team is going to win.
Exactly. And yet no one ever does it! Perhaps they think it looks undignified or some shit like that?
They shaded JB the way I expected the Cavs to, but the Cavs never did because they’re stupid. Have to hit his kickouts, didn’t today.
They took Vincent off of him, which was big for them.
Our 3pt shooting was actually worse than the total stat indicated. Brunson, Hart, Barrett, Grimes and IQ were a combined 3-23. If your PF is your only threat from 3, that’s no bueno.
I mean I guess the strategy of “pack the paint against Brunson and let them shoot open 3’s” worked to perfection, but it really shouldn’t have. NBA players should be at least be able to hit 30% of wide open 3 pointers
RJ had himself a good game then choked it away at the end. The counting numbers are all high. Unfortunately so are the TOs & missed FTs. He went back to head down & head dumb RJ.
The Knicks took 34 three-pointers, not a lot, but not few either. The problem is that they made only seven of them. You can’t keep jacking up long shots when you are not making them. That was the Knicks conundrum today. They couldn’t solve it.
One peculiar observation…the Cavs had the #1 ranked defense and they looked like defensive scrubs next to the Heat.
The Spo-Riley-Butler combo sure knows how to put a winning product on the floor. Just the defensive savvy of Kyle Lowry, the outlet passes of Kevin Love, Caleb Martin out-Josh Harting Josh Hart, Vincent coming out cold-blooded at MSG…very, very impressive.
Cavs were physically weak inside. Mitch alone dominated both their bigs together. It was the opposite today.
That is correct, Max, but that means 2 more 3PM and 6 more points in a game we lost by 7. Don’t know if it’d be good to win the game, but it’d have been a much closer game if we shot 3Ps at 28%.
the Heat needed this win with Randle out to make this a series…. and it’s a matter of what shape Randle.. and for that matter Butler is in.. when they do play…
but there are some concerning things.. namely our offense which hasn’t been right the entire playoffs…. and the Miami defense has a lot more options to throw at Brunson.. including a feisty Lowry who’s the type of guy that does give Brunson actual problems like FVV does… so these no-pass iso possessions from Brunson are going to work a lot less like it did in the second half and with it… our entire offense…
they’re going to have to come up with something more sophisticated than a guard screening for him this series…
Spo made Bickerstaff look even worse today.
the problem with us shooting a lot of 3s.. is that we’re not really good at it… brunson should be shooting and IQ/Grimes can get streaky.. but nobody else really is all that reliable…
I will tell you what I noticed, and it was very disappointing:
Caleb Martin started getting fresh with him (bumping him, talking some trash) and the immaturity of RJ came out.
There was one play with 4 minutes left RJ was going coast-to-coast. He was mad at Caleb from the previous play so everyone in the building (especially Martin) knew RJ was going to take the shot.
Martin had the block lined up for like 60 feet. It was one of those “please, RJ, no” moments. But RJ took the shot… and then Caleb took his manhood. He blocked it 10 rows deep and talked some trash. RJ was shook.
Next play: RJ offensive foul
Next play: RJ throws pass out of bounds
Next play: RJ drives into 3 Heat players, turns ball over.
It was 100-94 with 3:48 to go when this started.
It was 104-94 with 2:00 to go when it ended.
No Knick other than RJ touched the ball on offense.
And Thibs just stood there scowling with his arms crossed as if he weren’t allowed to intercede.
Barrett just had a full-on brain freeze there in the 4th.
Z–Man is correct on the threes, but if you take Quentin out (he was 1-3, which is a perfectly cromulent 33% I suppose) then Hart, IQ, Brunson, and Barrett were 2-20. Which based on my advanced math skills says 10%.
RJ played like trash down the stretch, but on the Martin block I thought he simply waited too long to push the ball. But, yeah, he thought he could take Martin and … well … not so much.
Mitch in the postgame said what we already knew, or suspected,
he’s dealing with a hip issue…
Knicks took the 8th most 3pa during the regular season and were 19th in 3pt%, so they’re not a great 3pt shooting team but also not anywhere near as bad as they’ve been in the playoffs. You hope it eventually turns around before it’s too late.
The Heat were 1-1 in the play-in and are now 5-1 in the actual playoffs.
Outside shooting was very bad in five games against the Cavs as well, but very few were discussing how critical it is because we won the series anyway. Brunson was slowed down by the Cavs but was still doing his thing. RJ was allowed to drive the entire series. Mitch was getting offensive rebounds at will. And so on.
Things were much-much different in the second half today. Only a few made 3-pointers would have opened up the Heat defense and changed things for us, but they did not fall.
Did Alan not watching jinx us? We need to take a strong look at that.
Overall this sucked because even with our terrible 3 point shooting we were in a good place to win with 5 minutes left and just completely fucked up.
The Heat were trailing the Bulls with 2:26 to go in the final play-in game. After getting smoked by the Hawks at home in the first play-in game. Now they seem like a juggernaut.
We were completely unable to attack a crippled Jimmy Butler in the last 5 minutes and went on doing dumb choice after dumb choice, not a good look…
But it’s only a game and we knew we’re doomed…
We had scored, I think, less than 35 second half points at that moment. We scored 46 points in the second half overall, at least 6-8 of which came in the last minute when the game was out of reach.
I don’t think it’s time to panic, but if Grimes gives us nothing again, Thins might wanna consider kicking the tires on Fournier. There’s no one on the Heat other than Butler that he can’t guard well enough, and he’s one guy that if he’s healthy and gets a few reps that they can’t leave open from 3.
Watching Kings-Warriors,
Game-7s are nerve wracking, I don’t know if I can watch one involving the Knicks anymore, I’m too old…
Anyway, is Kevon Looney a top-3 underrated player in the current NBA?
good point zman…like the devils changing the goalie in game 3 against the rangers and it turned the series…not sure thibs has the gonads but it might be worth it to open things up…grimes is giving nada…
Van Gundy, after Curry misses his first and second ever 7th game free throws.
“I’ve never seen that before!”
Sorta the whole point, there…
Thibs played Fournier a little to end the season (4 games), and his stats were FG% .200 and 3P% .167
I honestly don’t get the muted optimism many posters are showing here. Yes, we shot way below expectation just like we have for every other playoff game. There’s no reason to believe that our next coinflip will come up tails just because we’ve flipped heads six times in a row. More likely our guys are just choking and the inability of anyone to make a wide open three is in their heads.
Game 2 figures to be a miserable watch because all we’re playing for is the chance to append a prefix of “gentleman’s” to this sweep. Likely no Mitch and I’m sure Jimmy Butler’s ankle thing will somehow make him play even better.
I guess the regular season really does mean nothing now where Miami can be one of the worst offensive teams in the league all year, and worse than us from 3pt range, but them outshooting us was pretty much written in the stars, even without their main perimeter threat.
None of Vincent, Butler, Martin, Strus, Robinson, or Love shot better than .360 in the season. Did they just not feel like making them? Is this an elaborate rope-a-dope? I’d really rather have lost a hard-fought series to the Cavs than get owned by an 8th seed consisting of one great player, Bam, and a bunch of 0 BPM and lower guys playing out of their minds.
I submit to the board a corollary to Dolan’s Razor, which I humbly propose be known as Pagliacci’s Maxim. Whenever something good happens, it’s only to set up an even more crushing disappointment.
I need the Kings to win so that destiny can still happen, but boy, Warriors/Lakers sure would be fun.
Well, that goes back to something we had talked about here a few weeks ago. As a team, we refuse to try and generate mismatches on offense. We’ll attack a mismatch if it’s there but, where other teams will pick and roll over and over to get the matchup they want, we just don’t.
How do you respond to someone who doesn’t even know what a gentleman’s sweep is?
I don’t think Brunson 0-7 and Hart 0-4 will happen again. Most of those shots were uncontested. Other than that, I am very disappointed with how timid and insecure IQ has been offensively the past six games. Well, playoffs are a different animal, right?
ThisChicanery, are you referring to me above? How is the scenario I described with us winning Game 2 and losing the rest not a gentleman’s sweep? It’s the textbook definition of one
He definitely hasn’t heard about Dolan’s Razor.
Muted optimism is not what i am feeling
I’m as frustrated as anybody right now but the Knicks aren’t losing this series in 5 games. This series was always going 6 or 7 regardless of who won Game 1.
We won’t know how this team is going to go until game 2 is played.
Gentleman’s sweep, I thought, was when the team with home court advantage wins the first 3 and then “allows” their opponent to win one at home (by getting a bit too loose in game 4) only to ultimately close it out at home in 5.
A gentleman’s sweep isn’t any best of 7 series that a team wins 4-1. It’s specifically when a team goes up 3-0 and loses game 4 and then wins game 5; they’re going to sweep the other team but do the gentlemanly thing and allow the other team to win 1 game. Our series win over Cleveland was not a gentleman’s sweep; Denver’s win over Minnesota was.
There’s also a backdoor sweep, when one team wins games 1 and then the other team wins the next 4.
they just beat the 1 seed in 5…beating us in 5 is not a tall task…
Just googled it and Urban Dictionary defines it as “When a team wins a playoff series, but loses one game in the series. A team is said to have “let” the other team win one game before sweeping them.”
Winning the first 3 is not required. Even if it is, then… yay? We’d still have lost in 5 and we wouldn’t even be able to call it gentlemanly, and that’s probably on the upper end of our likely outcome distribution at this point.
@Pepper, they beat the 1 seed in 5 with the arguable best player in the world either sitting out or hobbled for most of the series, and an otherwise good coach clearly mentally affected by the recent death of an immediate family member. They had more than a little luck on their side; if they were really better than the Bucks they’d have at least secured a playoff spot.
Occam’s razor, Dolan’s razor-I would prefer Pacals’s wager. The Knicks were awful and still in this game. If they play this poorly, can’t hit a three, they will lose the series-but why assume this? They punch back. At this point, I think the biggest issue is both teams injury report.
Looney is Mitching it up out there.
Wiggins, meanwhile, is Chuck Knoblauching it out out there.
Warriors with 14 offensive rebounds- in the 3rd quarter!
I think that was the original meaning of the term, but the term has evolved to just any 5 game loss.
Rooting for the Kings but hard to root against Curry
That was a hell of a shot by Monk
Ahhh shit Klay
It’s going to be crazy to see how the Kings manage to win this one in order to get the destined NBA Finals matchup between the Kings and Knicks.
What a wild and bizarre 3rd quarter. Game 7s are the best.
Andrew Wiggins had a 4 minute stretch there where he bricked 4 free throws and bricked 5 shots including bricking a layup and a dunk. Warriors miss 11 free throws as a team in the quarter. Yet opened up a 12 point lead.
Do the Kings seriously not have anyone who can box Looney out?
I wish the Knicks had Steph Curry.
A gentleman’s sweep always has and always will been a team going up 3-0, losing game 4, and winning game 5. Nothing else even makes sense.
Seguing back to the playoffs, what are the odds Jimmy Butler plays Tuesday? With game 3 being Saturday, wouldn’t it make more sense for Butler to sit and rest his ankle for basically a full week?
Another Finals appearance coming up for Golden State
Must be nice to be a Warriors fan.
Gonna be very interesting to see if Randle and Butler play on Tuesday.
I don’t see this Golden St team being good enough to beat the Kings, Lakers and Suns/Nuggets in the playoffs.
It’s going to be crazy to see how the Kings manage to win this one in order to get the destined NBA Finals matchup between the Kings and Knicks.
it’s important to note that while we had some luck to get to where we are… the heat has got a much bigger dose of it as basically 4 out of their 5 wins this playoffs have been fueled by Giannis or Randle being out…
they’re playing the hand their dealt but they’re probably not where they are if they’re playing teams not missing one of their best players…
The Heat really didn’t prove much today except that the corpse of Kyle Lowry has been reanimated and that they’re very good at getting us to miss open shots.
I think we need a few more screens to give Brunson some breathing room to cook, and I might’ve brought Grimes in earlier in the 3rd. Other than that though you’re gonna lose 95% of games in which you shoot 20.6% from 3.
I thought the defensive game plan was mostly sound, so our guys will either hit a few more and we’ll be good to go, or they won’t and we will not.
The Randle Ewing Theory died today for sure, IMO. It’s just way too easy for them to sell out on Brunson right now. I don’t want to rush him back but it’d be great if he was genuinely healthy by Tuesday.
The Kings did a minor miracle winning Game-6 on the road.
Sabonis played the last few month with a broken tendon in his non-shooting hand, then Fox got injured more or less in the same way on his shooting hand in this series.
Curry is great and dominated tonight’s game, but Looney had games with 22,20 and 21 rebounds. They were unable to box him out all series long.
Anyway great season for the Kings, hat tip to them.
Edit: Go read Harrison Barnes statline… was he injured or it was simply another one of his big games meltdown?
So is Steph top 5 all time? I say yes.
sure the heat have got some good karma this postseason but my point was that we (the Knicks) are not some unstoppable force that will not go down in 5…I mean if we see 2nd half RJ the rest of the way and julius doesn’t come back in some respectable form…its conceivable…
last I looked…Giannis played the whole elimination game and missed about 15 free throws that would have pushed it the other way….so…there is that factoid as well…and miami’s second leading scored didn’t play and yadda yadda yadda…
Just read a crazy stat, only 3 players have ever had 10+ offensive and defensive rebs in a Game 7: Barkley, Ewing and now Looney
There’s probably some big man bias that will keep Steph from ever cracking the top 5. But top 10 is looking more and more like a thing. You would have a tough time dislodging any of Kareem, Wilt, Michael or LeBron, or Russell. So he’d have to displace one of Bird or Magic.
And honestly, I’m not sure he’s better than Kevin Durant as a 2-way player.
I think it’s certainly a fair discussion to have, especially if he gets another chip with more performances like the one today.
yea we have by far the worst offense that’s still playing which would be the equivalent of the worst in the league for the reg season… and that’s without Randle or Randle playing well…. if we have to depend on the other team not scoring 100 points we will get swept this round….
but the heat are not some juggernaut either…. they are a very flawed team… as we are… and so if we can regain anything close to our reg season offense at some point things will look a lot less dire…
but not having done so in 6 games in these playoffs is a worrying trend and the heat are exactly the type of team that can and will capitalize on anyone not showing up… whether due to injury or performance…. and so that’s a major question… when’s Randle coming back and whether or not he and others can step up….
My $0.02. I’m not picking sides, so please don’t flame me, but I’ve been using the term “gentleman’s sweep” as any 5- or 7-game series where one of the teams wins but one game (one out of seven; one out of five—one out of three doesn’t make sense), no matter which game it is. It doesn’t have to be the third game out of five or the fourth game out of seven. I kind of see it as very oddly similar to another weird term: “baker’s dozen” (13 of something). 🙂
Also: We have referred here multiple times to the Knicks series with Atlanta in 2021, as a “gentleman’s sweep,” both at the time, and since that time. We won Game 2 that time around, not Game 4, and no one said a peep about using the term incorrectly at that time.
Again, please don’t flame me. I’m not taking sides—only giving my opinion on the matter.
Playoff games played for all players who played more than 10 minutes today, going into this game (Round 2 or beyond in parentheses)
Heat:
Kyle Lowry: 112
Jimmy Butler: 102
Kevin Love: 68
Bam Adebayo: 51
Duncan Robinson: 43
Gabe Vincent: 27
Max Strus: 25
Caleb Martin: 22
Knicks:
Jalen Brunson: 51
RJ Barrett: 10
IQ: 10
Obi Toppin: 10
Isaiah Hartenstein: 7
Mitchell Robinson: 5
Josh Hart: 5
Quentin Grimes: 3
For the Knicks, only Jalen Brunson has played beyond the first round before. Every Heat player on the list has been at least to the conference finals, and Lowry and Love have been on championship teams.
It’s pretty common nowadays for folks here and elsewhere to refer to any 5-game win as a gentleman’s sweep. Not a big deal either way, don’t know why we are debating it. It’s an ass-kicking, no matter what you call it.
There’s no doubt that the term was coined in the 3-0, lose game 4, win game 5 context. But it has clearly moved on past that definition to the current “Five-game win” meaning. Just do a quick search, and you’ll find the “Any five-game win” meaning used constantly, ergo, it’s the current meaning. It started one way, but now it’s another. Meanings change over time.
Loosely, gentleman’s sweep is any 5 game win.
Still, a game 4 loss makes the most sense. I’d accept a game 3 too.
Game 1 or 2 loss is kinda a stretch for me because it’s difficult to feel the series is in hand and let off the gas if you’re not actually up in the count.
“Meanings change over time.”
Indeed, Brian. As an editor/writer type, I can attest to that more than most. 🙂
Truly—I just don’t want to lose this series. But I can’t say that I feel great after today. Hopefully I’ll feel better late Tuesday night. These ups and downs are what sports are all about.
I’m just trying to figure out whether I think that Rodgers is going to be good for the Jets, or if the whole thing is going to blow up Kyrie Irving-in-Dallas style as a total shitshow. I’m much more of a Giants fan than a Jets fan, but as a native New Yorker I want the Jets to do well, too. They never play each other, anyway (anyone know the last time they’ve played each other, if they have?), so I’ll reserve my Giants fandom for the Giants/Jets Super Bowl (right after the stunning 7-game Knicks Finals victory over the Lakers, of course).
Well, the wheels came off in a hurry, huh? I had to leave for family stuff midway through the third, and listened on radio, so I missed most (all?) of the ugliness on TV.
This is a great test of our young team. The Heat do not give any fucks. Prime Butler, Lowry, and Love are trying to emerge from their older selves. IMO it’s really on Thibs to set our guys straight.
I hope the physio team is working overtime. Mitch looked stiff and banged up after the high of beating the Cavs. IQ is a head case. Even JHart looked a bit cocky out there and not taking care of business. Re-group. Go again.
Yeah with Golden St advancing of the 8 teams remaining the Knicks by far are the least experienced playoff team.
I agree with the original meaning, but when you are the lower-seeded team, games 1-2 and 3-4 are reversed, so what we did to CLE is as close to a gentleman’s sweep as you can have. Same if Miami wins, or when ATL beat us. It’s the winning team saying “once we beat you in the first game on your home floor, the series is over, so we don’t even have to show up in game 2 and will still kick your ass in our house and then finish the job on your home floor.
The critical assumption that should be baked in to a gentleman’s sweep is that the winning team wins all games on its home floor…2 if starting on the road, 3 if starting at home.
I guess (other than pre-season meaningless crap) the Giants and Jets play each other every four years in the current configuration, and the Giants lead the series 8 games to 6. They last played November 10, 2019 (considered a Jets home game, but c’mon!), and the Jets won 34-27.
Wouldn’t have mattered if we attacked Butler off the dribble because (1) we’re doomed and (2) there were 5 Heat in the paint the entire 4Q.
We needed to pass out for 3s but nobody was hitting them. You’ve gotta keep making those passes but Brunson & RJ had given up. Obi should’ve been in.
Heat are doing to us what we did to the Cavs, daring us to hit 3s:
* IQ is playing at 0° Kelvin
* RJ is RJ
* Brunson can’t kick out to himself
* Hart is low volume, even at 50%
* Let loose Instagram Mitch!!
We need to consider Deuce off the bench if Lowry keeps cooking us.
We’re missing Randle on the defensive boards almost as much as on offense.
Maybe don’t play Hart 48min every game.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/36330418/brunson-takes-blame-uncharacteristic-outing-game-1
Once steph missed those 2 FTs he turned into a demon
50 points on 40 possessions with one turnover is pretty outstanding in a game 7. I can wait till his career is over to rank him but he’s definitely ahead of Kobe and I don’t think there are many players who changed the game more than he did.
Even though they lost, I still think the Knicks are the better team. Brunson won’t go 0-7 from three, or have 5 turnovers in a game again. Getting Randle back will help. As long as they don’t go down 0-2, they are more than capable of beating the Heat in Miami and getting back on track.
Knicks are clearly the better team on paper, most statistical model previews I’ve read had the Knicks between 65 to 70% chance of winning the series. Randle being out though is a much bigger issue than we realized.
Defense today was not bad, excluding a few stupid plays like IQ fouling a three-point shooter, Obi missing a few assignments, and not protecting against those repeated outlet passes by Love in the third quarter. Those changed the flow of the game. Miami scored only 108 points. That could have been good for us had we shot just “poorly” from the 3pt line. Unfortunately, we were worse than that. On the other end, scoring 101 points might have been good enough for us to beat the Cavs, but not necessarily enough to beat a seasoned and savvy team like the Heat.
Things to consider moving forward.
–Moving Obi and Hart to the starting lineup has significantly weakened our bench punch. Thibs played eight guys today. I already miss those games when Obi, Hart, IQ, and I-Hart were coming in and changing things in our favor.
–Brunson is smart and will adjust. He will make a few 3s next time and this will open things up better for us.
–Randle will give us a lift and draw attention ONLY if a) he makes his outside shots and/or b) he is strong enough to battle down low. Getting the “bad” Randle back could make things worse.
–Mitch having a hip issue could be potentially disastrous for us.
–I hope Butler’s ankle swells like my grandma’s behind. Please pray with me 😊
I keep thinking how these games would be different with healthy Randle. They’ve got nobody but Bam to defend him, and if that’s the matchup Mitch would get like 20 rebounds and 8 dunks and Hart and Brunson would be freer to roam.
Sadly that’s not the case.
And Obi is one of my very favorite NBA players, and he did okay today (36% from three on 11 shots), but they were leaving him open and packing the paint. That’s just bad for the rest of the team.
I’d also add that Barrett has to stay in the Good RJ Lane. Like, for the whole game.
More hockey insanity, Bruins with the most regular season wins in NHL history and lose in the first round to Florida.
Sport makes no sense.
Not jumping to any conclusions after 1 game but I do think it’s safe to lay this idea that we’re better than the Heat to rest. We finished 5th in the East. They finished 7th.
Also worth noting that the Heat are – for the time being, at least – better without Herro. It’s quite possible they are on this run because he’s out, not in spite of him being out. He’s a good player and all, but this whole Jimmy, Bam, and Kyle surrounded by shooters and defenders is something new for them. I wouldn’t trust it over 82 games but for two weeks it can be killer.
Jimmy Butler is not just the best player in this series, it is an enormous gap between him and our best player. He’s as close to an MVP candidate as one can be without being one.
Spo is probably the best coach in the NBA.
These guys were a missed Butler 3 away from a trip to the finals last year.
Like the Lakers and Dubs, they seem to be gelling at the right moment.
We have our work cut out for us.
The three worst player betrayals I can think of:
1. Roger Clemens joining the Yankees
2. Sol Campbell signing with Arsenal
3. ISM signing a 10-day contract with the Heat before game 1
One thing you can say for sure, the Warriors, Lakers and Heat are making a mockery of the NBA regular season.
I’m with Chicanery on the gentlemen’s sweep. The other uses make no sense.
I saw the Bruins lost. Its like top seeds don’t matter anymore. This world makes no sense right now. I’m scared.
In a vacuum, I could absolutely live with the Knicks not making it out of the second round; they outperformed expectations by more than a little bit. But losing to the Heat would suuuuck, and if the Lakers somehow found a way past the Warriors to the WCF, well, you guys already know the misery that awaits me.
The Lakers are a completely different team than they were during the regular season and beat a pretty banged up Memphis team. The Warriors were also not whole until pretty late in the year. Also the west as a whole is just not that good this year, or at least has a bunch of teams on a similar level.
The Heat are a bit of an outlier. I’m not sure they’re actually that good. Jimmy is great, and they do play good defense, but they even probably should have lost the game today.
Lakers completely revamped their roster at the deadline. I’m not surprised by them.
I always want to count the Warriors out… but they’re the Warriors Plus the Kings had a defense that’s not viable for the playoffs (25th per BKref).
I want to say the Heat had a lot of shooters underperform. Either way Spo & Butler are a different beast in the playoffs. But they’ve played a lot of games against missing all-stars.
And yeah, the West was complete garbage this year. Denver is looking pretty good though. If Jamal is finally healthy they’re gonna be much better than the regular season.
For me it wasn’t about missing Randle or missing 3s.
It was about energy and mindset.
Leaving open in the fastbreak Heat players 4 times in a row yells: I’m off.
Despite that you’re down by only a few points feeling that the game is lost 6-8min before its end yells: My balls are cut.
Heat are not the dream team but if the Knicks choose to play the same way it will not be a gentleman sweep but a hardcore porn.