In Bob Dylan’s “Temporary Like Achilles,” he opens with:
Standing on your window, honey
Yes, I’ve been here before
Feeling so harmless
I’m looking at your second door
How come you don’t send me no regards?You know I want your lovin’
Honey, why are you so hard?
Well, if you’re an old enough Knick fan, you know that we have definitely been here before with the Knicks and the Heat. Outside of that series against the Heatles, Game 1 was very much in keeping with past Knicks/Heat playoff series. Hard fought, gritty, close games that leave you grinding your teeth down to little stubs. You know we want your lovin’, Knicks (winning playoff games), but honey, why are you so hard?
So expect more of that in Game 2, even with the Heat being without Jimmy Butler. You know who was also missing their best player last night? The Philadelphia 76ers, but they managed to win a playoff game without the literal Most Valuable Player in the NBA this season, Joel Embiid, so certainly, the Heat can (and will) win this game without Jimmy Butler.
Randle and Brunson are both game-time decisions, which is actually kind of freaky, since I would have assumed that Brunson would have been cleared by now. With Butler out, maybe the Knicks are more conservative with Randle. Who knows? I love tweets like, “Randle looked like he was moving well out there.” Dude, you can’t tell shit from that. You certainly can’t tell if a dude’s ankle is prepared to play a professional basketball game. But let’s hope Randle and Brunson both play, not that it really matters.
I figure Caleb Marin slides into the starting lineup, so it’ll be Vincent/Strus/Martin/Love/Bam. That is not an imposing lineup, even with a rejuvenated Kyle Lowry coming off of the bench, but somehow, you know it will work out for the Heat in some weird way.
Why is it so hard for the Knicks? I dunno, but it is, so deal with it.
It matters not at all, but what the heck, let me still say, Let’s go, Knicks!
415 replies on “2023 Playoffs Game Thread – Hopeless Knicks vs. Heat, Game 2”
Obi Obi!!
Kevin Love for 36 points and 11 rebounds.
We are doomed.
is julius playing?
on the one hand, no doubt julius could use until game 3 to rest – on the other hand…tape it up…get a shot of something to keep it loose…
I’m wondering if Butler would play if they didn’t already break the Knicks’s home court advantage. It’s a lot more tolerable for them to go into game 3 tied 1-1 with a fully healthy Butler.
Of course, it’s even easier when you know your opponent is doomed and it doesn’t matter who you trot out there.
Gooooo doomed Knicks! 🏀
With all this talk of Doom… can anyone tell me what Dr. Doom is a doctor of?
Doom was thrown out of university and then suddenly declared that he was to be called DOCTOR Doom from that point forward.
There’s also a Dr. Dooms in Bellevue, WA, who is board-certified in both Pediatrics and Allergy/Immunology. He sees patients of all ages, from babies through adults.
Doomed, I tell you. Doomed.
Doom…
By the way, that first bit about Dr. Doom was written by some hack named Brian Cronin…
…and it goes on for quite a bit, with the Brian guy deciding Doom does indeed have a doctorate or six, but I’ll let him explain what they might be in if he cares to…
Has nobody ever had him go back and actually get a doctorate?
With the way Marvel geniuses work it’d take him 20min to write a thesis. But maybe that’s why he never bothered to do it.
great comic book series:
The Books of Doom
he’s a little less a bad guy in the limited series run…
victor is a bit of a hero to the people…okay, not really, doom’s still a bad guy…
Let’s not screw around tonight and just kick their ass.
julius is suiting up…same for jalen…
Per Marc Stein, both Randle and Brunson are available: https://twitter.com/thesteinline/status/1653534053331619841?s=46&t=mLlHkULTWtGiAcwn5da2fQ
I’d like to see brunson try to set up guys first vs shoot off the bat. I’d love to see randle in the midpost. I’d love if we made some open 3s. They are going to jack a record number of 3s, we need to guard the 3 point line and force 2s and contested 2s
I suppose as ruler of Latveria he can set the country’s standards for what qualifies one for the title of doctor, effectively conferring it on himself, but still legally legitimate
Is the game only on tnt (not msg)?
Am I gonna have to listen to Jim Jackson the whole time??
alright let’s make some fucking shots!
made some shots that’s nice
By the eye test we’ve already hit more 3s than we did in game 1
sadly yes, no more MSG games this year
O/U last games 3pt total by the 6min mark?
Okay this is fun.
Good RJ showing up.
I hope they don’t fall in love with the 3 just because they hit a few early. That would be begging to lose. If you have a good one, take it. But other than that get to the basket.
Randle’s ankle looks better than mine
O/U in bonus by the 8min mark?
I don’t like what I’m seeing so far at all.
Absolutely pathetic defense to start the game for the Knicks.
The Cavs fucking cut this guy!
Randle’s ankle looks better than Brunson’s.
That’s basically it exactly.
Hart playing scared on offense. With no butler why not start grimes if he’s healthy?
He looks oddly terrified.
Thibs has become a bit addicted to Hart or Grimes is still more hurt than they’re letting on
The Knicks are obviously fucked, but in their favor is that the Heat will have to go their bench eventually, and do they even have a backup 4?
This is the feeling I’m used to
Udonis Haslem?
Melo is at the game.
I think Jimmy Butler was their backup 4!
I’m glad Vincent had five minutes to take that three.
Please take that shot, Bam!
Screamed shoot when Hart got the ball on the last possession but it worked out in the end
Hart is scared to shoot. Grimes better not be fully healthy, bc makes no sense he’s not out there with no butler to defend
I think Hart being unwilling or unable to shoot 3s is hurting our spacing. Grimes really works better with the first unit and Hart is better with the second unit who does more drive/kick and moves the ball.
Barrett has 13 points in less than 8 minutes.
An injury to a shooter’s shooting shoulder is definitely a problem even if he’s healthy enough to play
Playoff RJ saving our asses so far
Absolutely horrible defense by Brunson allowing Strauss to take that corner 3pter.
Quien es mas macho?
RJ Barrett is not playing quarterback in my backyard pickup game…
pass to grimes pass to grimes pas-nice shot Julius!
This Heat lineup on the court is insane.
Nice to have Randle back.
RJ has been great, even made a really great rotation to stop that layup, but that pass…
My feed is very far behind
I don’t think that that was a bad plan by Vincent, per se, but you can’t just shoot any three, even if there’s no look, ya know?
Couldn’t have played any worse defensively that quarter.
If we can’t beat this iteration of the heat….well….
Miami has a bunch of video game create-a-player guys out there just draining shot after shot
I don’t think I’ve ever been as concerned with a lead as I do now.
Gonna need ISM to step it up
Strange D by the Knicks. Miami is basically a bunch of scrubs who can shoot threes, and the Knicks seem bound and determined to allow them to do so. Five more threes by Miami than the Knicks so far.
We should switch all screens vs fighting over …esp if they’re going to just launch threes. We need to make that adjustment
We need to win this one and 1 pt is enough, so keep grinding, team!
Man, does Duncan Robinson do anything?!
I’m counting 5 undrafted players in the Heat rotation this game
Highsmith has major Sumner energy
Spo is giving the Knicks a huge assist by playing Robinson so many minutes.
He totally held IQ there. Should be a foul.
Get Obi out of there.
Boy…this is embarrassing
Oof Obi
It’s so annoying how these fucking randomly generated NBA 2K players keep making plays every time, who the fuck is even Highsmith
Is that Caron Butler on the heat bench??
Get IQ out of there.
these guys are driving me to drink
Robinson doesn’t do anything. It’s amazing that Spo is playing him so much.
Going four minutes without scoring is a ballsy strategy.
Lure them in I guess
Hey thibs…try to coach a bit…that’s not bicjerstaff over there anymore….
We can’t rebound for shit right now
Oh my god. What happened? This is a totally different team. No one (like NO ONE) is playing smart. Did Thibs depress them or something? Wake the fuck up!
Thibs should never again have a lineup that has both brunson and randle out of the game at the same time. IQ is awful again, and the heat somehow don’t miss open threes
What’s really concerning is that this team can bully a soft ass team like the Cavs, but this Heat team will never be bullied like that. The offensive rebounds are gone, they’re always one step ahead, it feels so deflating.
Gotta hope they go cold from 3.
We’re gonna lose this game
And they’re only down four. So the Heat have been bad, too. It’s sort of playing to the other team’s level. Which, I guess is Duncan Robinson for the Knicks, the way they are playing.
How to kill any semblance of home court advantage….play like the Washington generals…
I don’t know what your TVs are telling you, but mine is very clearly screaming “not ready for the moment/bright lights.” The Heat aren’t really, either, without Butler…….but they seem, well…….moreso than the Knicks.
A lot of the three looks were good, they just bricked them.
Going to need a lot of Randle tonight it looks like.
Knicks could use Melo and Stat right now.
MITCH
The Knicks are so nervous and playing so tight it’s making me nervous. To purposely expose oneself to this craziness is not healthy.
Our perimeter guys are 3-13, make some fucking shots
hart baby what are you fucking doing
Finally OBoards
Did Lowry seriously just defend Randle one-on-one?!!
STOP SHOOTING 3s.
We are not good at them on normal nights and the pressure is too high tonight. Get inside.
These Heat fouls on RJ are so stupid. He isn’t hitting those shots.
I guess the foul looks smarter now.
I’m asking the God of 3Ps if he can have a little mercy for us
Miami’s defense has been tough, but the Knicks are playing scared and dumb.
This is like the battle of the defenses, but the Knicks defense is making more mistakes than the Heat defense.
Knicks looking like the Cavs.
Brunson is not himself
For serious.
Our best offense right now is missing with Mitch in the game
Just play mistake-free to close the half and re-group. Stop the stupid mistakes.
Not a confident looking group. Tentative. Injuries seem to be holding them back. Almost no fast breaks. Come on felllas. Time to bring the fire and desire.
Real Nineties energy
TBH I could have dealt with losing to a red hot Jimmy Butler but getting rolled by Cody Zeller and Heywood Jablomie is a little much
Mitch, grrrrr.
That wasn’t a three, was it?
Tough to watch…get rose and Fournier in there.. shake this shit up…
thank you julius we needed that so bad
This is embarrassing
I love that they left Randle wide open. Thank goodness he hit it!
Was that second Randle shot even a three?
Julius….our fearless leader…
Why does Mitch practices 3Ps in the offseason?? He can’t even make a FT!!!
LET’S GO DAMN IT
I don’t think so Brian.
I hope they don’t review that it was definitely a 2.
Thank god we got Randle back for this one…
Julius really picked an exceptional time to hit some tough shots.
“Why does Mitch practices 3Ps in the offseason?? He can’t even make a FT!!!”
Any time he gets an OREB they should just foul him.
Right on cue, Willis Reed is on my feed explaining HOW TO SHOOT. I hope they’re watching.
Basically if 2 out of our big three aren’t going we can’t win. If Julius can get hot and RJ can continue to play decent we can make it without Brunson. But man it is a lot nicer when Brunson isn’t playing awful.
When your point guard fouls the power forward on a three is pretty dumb.
Can’t stop Caleb Martin…only hope to contain him…
If Fournier looked good in the morning shootaround, Thibs should put him in
I can’t watch this sober.
Don’t know why people think Spo is outcoaching Thibs, our “Randle takes a stepback 3” offense is unstoppable
Lots of dumb plays on defense.
We looked good defensively against a poorly coached team (Cleveland) but we’re not playing like a very good defensive team so far in this series
It’ll sober you up real fast anyway
I shudder to think how this would look if MIA had Butler, Herro and Oladipo in this lineup. We’d be even more doomed.
Uh oh, three fouls on both Knick centers.
Dumbassery from RJ? Who woulda thought?
Julius at C
There were a few fouls by the Heat on that play that gave iHart a foul. I don’t often complain about refs, but they fucked that one up.
RJ!
Just ignore TNFH
Randle and rj are kings of rally killing bonehead plays
Julius at C might not be terrible. Should just be switching everything anyways.
That was a blocking foul. Jesus Christ challenge something!
Why was nobody in the same time zone as Kevin Love on that three?
He only has a 30-year history of shooting them well…
Hmmm. Who thinks Kevin Love is going to shoot a three to close the half? Um, I do.
These refs suck my cow(suit) balls.
I’m becoming Fournier curious. Half serious. Who on this Heat team is really gonna exploit him?
I gotta think we can, and will, play better than that.
Why are we not switching on the perimeter, why???
Jimmy Butler isn’t playing and we’re down at the half. Even if we win this game it’s hard to imagine us winning the series.
That wasn’t a good first half for the Knicks.
This is the time to let Deuce and Fournier cook. Who cares about past performance in the playoffs. If we lose, we’re toast. We have to change the energy.
“And then Evan Fournier saved the season” isn’t happening guys
Thibs getting so out coached. Spo strategy. Let it fly from 3 and if we can hit 38% we keep it close. Thibs strategy. Guard the paint at all costs.
I predict Spo will make some adjustment and shut down Barrett in the second half
we have 2 fucking bench points
spo going with the march madness underdog strategy of jacking all the 3s they can…. which is both a good strategy and working….
and they have to defend the line better than they did… literally nobody should be getting much dribble penetration on this roster that’s left.. but here we are…
Fournier is rustier than a ’67 Dodge Dart left outside in Ft Lauderdale. Hard to imagine he could be effective. Can’t remember Brunson playing this bad two games in a row.
I wouldn’t mind Melo playing for us in the 2nd half.
Fournier won’t save our season but we need someone who can actually hit a 3pter to free up the paint. He’s been awful all season, even at that, but he’s maybe the one guy who could do it.
We aren’t even shooting bad, but they’re fine with us shooting 3s because we don’t want to and we’re not particularly good at it.
Nobody can get penetration because the perimeter defenders keep shading their way for the help. Somebody needs to hit even semi-contested 3s to keep them honest. We can only hit wide open RJ 3s.
Brunson is obviously banged up, but IQ has picked a bad time to go through whatever he’s going through
How can he be less effective than “I no more q” and Quentin “I forgot how to shoot” grimes…and obi “left my nut sack in the locker room” toppin…
Yeah, i think this is why this series is going so bad. We need Brunson to be effective to have a chance. Let’s hope someone brings him a coffee during halftime. 😀
And some pain killers?
Worried about the series.
Brunson seems hurt, playing tentative
Thibs is way too slow in seeing the obvious (switch on 3s, force them inside to Mitch)
All our bench guys and hart are playing shook on offense
Down 3 but for reasons above feels like 20
Brunson is clearly affected by his sore ankle which he sprained again late in the 2nd quarter.
After watching the Rangers go catatonic last night, the Knicks are following suit. The Heat zone is not going to be beat by dribbling into 3 defenders. No one thinks Fournier is Trent Tucker, but if IQ and Grimes are silent – why not try.
Once we suffer the DOOM, let’s hope this is a teaching moment for the young’s, because those three are playing like hot garbage at the moment.
EDIT: Maybe sit Brunson if he’s hurt and just turn IQ loose. Sometimes he wakes up when he MUST carry the offense. He misses a few, then gets in rhythm. I can’t think of anything else.
It’s frustrating, the Heat has exposed all our weaknesses, but we HAVE to find a way to grind this one out. We can’t afford to go to South Beach down 0-2.
We need to win this one, no matter how we do it. I’d prefer if we get back to playing a good brand of basketball, but even if we win an ugly game, i’ll take it.
If Brunson is not ok, play Deuce. At least he’ll be a beast of defense.
Get Brunson out of there, he’s become a major liability.
Just saying that Max Strus would look great in a Knicks uniform next year at the MLE
Mitch needs to wake up …sleep walking out there
Protect the paint works better when you actually protect the paint
Brunson is not healthy and is a problem for us now, not the Heat. Thibs has to figure out something.
We need one player other than Randle and RJ to do something. I’m not sure who it’s gonna be but maybe deuce and Fournier could give us signs of life
Forget about gentlemens sweep…we gonna get the ass wupping…wake up call…conventional sweep playing like this.
Losing this way, and with no Clyde, it’s beyond frustrating
Oversharing the ball now
Somehow RJ Barrett is very very high on the list of guys I want shooting
Come on Josh! Light the fuse!!
They’re not really letting Mitch play defense, so… dunno man
Holy shit, even I didn’t expect a wire to wire loss against Bam Adebayo and the G-League all-stars.
This is so much more about us being bad than Miami being good. We just don’t have the talent to compete outside of the running joke that is the NBA regular season against all but the most dysfunctional and badly coached teams.
Sorry E, you were right all along.
Ticky tack bullshit
We should have challenged that one. Worth it to save Mitch’s fouls
The Knicks are still fighting, which is nice. Even if they’re doomed.
Some horrible offensive sets…
Lotta shouting and arguing between Randle and Brunson at the moment.
The Knicks centers probably shouldn’t commit so many fouls.
Hartenstein hopefully will be better against the zone
Fucking Love
Cavs could have used him
Now Strus is hurt. I mean, come the fuck on, Knicks!
Really playing terrible, getting beaten by well-coached scrubs
Huge three by Jalen!
Another huge three!
Rim 2 serving Love love
They’re one point down. Doomed, but not as doomed as some of these takes…
Ihart is making some nice hustle plays….Randle appears to be unhinged
Guys I know you wanted a blowout, but view this from the other side. Miami is amped up all the way to get one from Butler. They’re playing the best they can possibly play and they’re up by one. We just need to pull out the W and it will do a lot to bring them back down to the ground.
SPO is like Pop. Somehow his scrubs are always competitive.
As I predicted, bloodbath. By the end of the series every player will be on crutches.
And I’ll be on life support. Too old for this much stress
Raven, this is one of the most disjointed performances ever. Could not possibly be less inspiring.
It’s the playoffs, at this point don’t care how ugly it is just win the damn game.
Wasn’t Hart that fouled iHart? 😀
Iso-Brunson!!
They’re all Josh Hart
It feels like the Heat can’t probably play much better than they have so far, and the Knicks certainly could. But yet it doesn’t seem to be happening
Duncan Robinson being on the court because someone needs to be on there is fair, but they let him, like, try to shoot on the dribble. It’s insane.
Two bad shots on a row right when we could have taken the lead
Fucking Gabe Vincent
How do you not get a shot off there, Randle?
Too bad RJ missed, but good shot there
We’re the dumbest team in the league
Terrible shots by Randle and Barrett there. They just can’t seem to hit that big shot tonight.
They cut the lead down by two points down to one and have the ball to start the fourth, so this is good, all and all. I mean, they’re doomed, but it’s good, as well.
Now the problem is when are some of our guys going to get a rest?
The Randle deep 3 and RJ turnaround were unfortunate adrenaline shots.
Win the quarter…win the game!
This is the thing. IQ? Obi? Can they even hold serve at this point?
Would not surprise me if IQ and Obi don’t see the court again
I am extremely frustrated in a way that is not at all proportional to the score.
My Heat friend loves how they are playing.
Yeah this is all on Spoelstra. How in the hell can he make a team so devoid of actual talent play like this, it’s insane.
The Knicks are playing badly but the Heat are playing the absolutely best game this group of players can put together, and it’s so infuriating to watch.
Let’s keep fighting
I hate this game. DOOMED
I can’t take this anymore.
What a pass by Hartenstein!
By the way, what in the fuck are the Heat doing with some of these threes?
IHart! Great great look
Boy has IQ turned into doodoo…
I think that was the first fast break we’ve seen all game.
Nice board Obi
Be good if the second unit could get to double digit scoring
Interesting lineup choice. Hope RJ doesn’t take it is permission to make this The RJ Show.
Great iHart pass.
Quickley sucks today
IQ can’t play anymore, he’s been completely awful. Just bench him.
Totally unwatchable.
Just move the damn ball.
Even reviewing this is stupid.
At this point IQ doesn’t even deserve to get his 5th year option picked up.
Still pro- IQ. But he can’t find any flow
The lack of genuine shot creation off the bench is pretty glaring right now. Rose and Fournier really did have places on this team if they didn’t pumpkinize.
Quickley = hot garbage majority of playoffs, can’t shoot, can’t pass
Why thibs does not have one of randle or brunson out there at all times boggles my fucking mind
If IQ can’t do better, we are in trouble. Brunson is clearly limited. We need more.
Grimes looks ok, even if he can’t shoot. He should take some of Hart’s minutes.
They. Shoot. Threes.
Defend. The three point line.
I don’t think the Heat even have a game plan for IQ!
Need to hit Hartenstein in the pinch post. Don’t know why the Knicks can’t figure out the zone.
Thank you, Immanuel
They. Shoot. Oh, never mind…
Every time we rally they hit a 3. I can’t take this. Make it end!
Yeah, the whole “defend the paint but let them shoot threes” defensive strategy has a definite ceiling
IQ is supposed to be one of the big engines of the bench unit. I dunno if we get out of this series if he doesn’t turn it around.
AND WHO THE FUCK IS GABE VINCENT?!?!?!
“AND WHO THE FUCK IS GABE VINCENT?!?!?!”
Gabe Vincent is the GOAT
We’re an average defensive team, and our approach is getting exposed
I can’t believe they keep finding open 3s they way they have in this quarter.
Crap
Just a total nightmare
Step 1: Run them off the line
Step 2: There is no step 2
Gabe Vincent about to be in the notes of so many NY based therapists
Lol
Sigh
That last three was just bad luck. The others? Not so much.
Forget a gentleman’s sweep, this is gonna be an old fashioned embarrassing 4 game sweep.
This is gonna be a terrible loss.
We don’t deserve to win this game. Out coached and outplayed.
Trapping instead of switching is so fucking dumb
This all feels too familiar. What happened to our bench? I’m in shock. This is Brunson time — the hard buckets — and he’s too gimpy, so we look like same old Knicks.
Feels like the Atlanta series all over again
Very poor pick and roll defense, non-sensical double teams that leave 3-point shooters alone, wow. Things don’t look good.
Them letting Brunson get open for threes is awesome. A four-point play chance!
I’ve stuck up for Thibs a lot this season but he’s getting pantsed in this game. Gotta come up with SOME kind of adjustment, at least make them beat you a different way
The one solace I have is that this team has been a better road team this season than at home.
Scott Foster about to fuck us I bet.
RJ has a negative plus minus so far. I wasn’t expecting that.
Oh wait, this might fucking suck.
It’s not gonna count.
Actually a zero point play
This is a terrible call, but I’ll take it!
I will take it!!!
Holy shit what a break.
Gonna have to be Brunson.
But in the 2nd round, if in two years it’ll feel like Atlanta again but in the ECF, i’ll take it.
How in the world if Duncan Robinson on the court for Miami?!!?
I mean, I’ll take it, Spo, but what are you thinking with giving Robinson so many minutes, dude?
Duncan Robinson guarding Jalen Brunson one-on-one is some Cedi Osman-level shit.
I don’t think that’s a bad call. Clearly he was going to shoot and the only reason that foul happens is because the shot attempt is about to happen.
Of course we want to win, but a few reminders:
This series is house money. Winning even one playoff series is as much as anyone really hoped for.
We all talked about how our young team needed playoff experience. We’re getting it. It’s a different game.
No one here thought Thibs was a better coach than Spo. So, no surprise he’s made better adjustments.
These announcers are way better than Doris and Jones, so we got that going for us.
Scott Foster very much went with the “spirit of the rule” approach there. Will be controversial if we win, but I support it.
COME ON
Brunson was loading for the shot. It’s part of the motion (I’m saying)
Definitely revising my earlier position: we really need this W.
The Heat are a gatekeeper playoff team: they make you play in the mud and they don’t make many mistakes. You have to win at least one or two close ones to out them.
Hartenstein should close this out
iHart gotta finish this game unless he fouls out.
My Miami buddy has been saying all game that he doesn’t understand why Knicks aren’t hunting Robinson
Duncan Robinson is plus 5. Only Gabe Who The Fuck Is Vincent is doing better.
Damn it Hart!
We don’t hunt anybody, it’s infuriating.
What the hell kind of shirt is the rules guy wearing
Bad foul
Yet another stupid as shit foul, this time by Josh Hart, who has been terrible
Amazingly dumb foul from Hart. Wow.
Absolutely brutal foul
By far Hart’s worst game as a Knick.
This is unbearable. WTF!
Hart has 7 boards & 9asts. Just gonna throw that out there
I love Hart but think Thibs is getting a bit addicted to him. He gums up the spacing pretty badly at times.
Hart is crushing them on the offensive boards!
Wait, that foul was on Miami? Terrible call… Fortunately…
Refs def trying to help us out in these last few sequences. It’s up to us to take advantage.
Finally Hart took a fucking shot!
I say, as Hart hits the biggest 3 of his career
Hart really needed that. Has been a void on offense.
How was that a “good look” by Vincent? Great three by Jalen!
Brunson!
Melo leading the cheers!
Who else would you have there, though?
Luka has some googly eyes after that.
Brunson!!!
JALEN BRUNSON FOR THE LEAD
In Brunson We Trust.
Some folks giving Brunson shit. He’s got 28 points and zero turnovers.
On a bum ankle he screwed up again earlier.
I take back all the shit I’ve said during this game, just win!
Scott Foster sucks
Hartenstein’s effort to give the Knicks shot after shot leading to the tying three was massive. Then, of course, let Brunson do the rest.
IHart has been great
I like Melo the fan
Why didn’t they challenge it?
Grimes in over IQ
Iso-Brunson!!
That was a real blown call.
That hit the rim
Could Spo not challenge that?
Finally 24 full seconds of good defense
Grimes has been good
Hart! What a terrible double team there.
WE HEART HART
So, Josh Hart. Motion to reconsider his game.
That JHart sucks.
NOT!!!
This game has been pure stress
Fucking win!!!!
What a sequence! Pure heart and hustle!
I don’t feel bad about that 24 second violation with the way we’ve been tested by officials this year.
remember when we hated randle because he couldn’t make clutch FTs
NO 3s!!!!!!
Randle 25-10-8.
Nice to have you back, Julius.
Thank god Thibs ignored my dumbass comment about him being addicted to Hart
I’d put Hartenstein back in.
Hart and I-Hart jump started this team’s heart.
Deee-fense! Deee-fense! Deee-fense!
And I was right.
Hack a Mitch
Josh Hart rebounds like five men
Is that a triple double?
For fucks sake
Needs an assist I think
I can’t F’n believe it.
RANDLE WTF
Unreal
this is without a doubt…the dumbest team in the league…the one guy to not let shoot a 3…we let shoot a 3…are you kidding me…
Fucking Randle…
Randle TOTALLY fell asleep on Robinson. Of course…
Randle could have a 100 point game and would still have an incredibly memorable moment of dumbassery
Get Mitch out!
what the blue hell…
Duncan R came in the game for one reason and one reason only…
That has to be the worst dumb ass TO in human history.
Extremely Knicksy things happening right now
Dumbest fucking team
Randle reducing my life by a year
Randle has quite a sense of drama.
Can you foul anyone like that?
Can someone explain why the foul on Hart wasn’t an “away from the ball” foul? Aren’t those 1 shot and the ball?
Imagine if we had cam reddish instead of Josh hart
Never in doubt.
well…I know Max definitely won’t use “poised and composed” in the post mortem tomorrow.
We got through the Heat emotional game. Now we’ll see what our road warriors can do.
I’d challenge it
That should be an offball foul
Remember when we hated Randle bc he stepped over the baseline and turned the ball over?
NEITHER DO I!!!
Love you, big fella.
Josh Hart won’t get that assist he needs, but he’s sure assisted this team over the finish line.
Needed that gutsy win. Was an extremely ugly and dumb effort but a w is a w is a w. Let’s win on the road like we do
Also having Randle back is huge, as we all knew
Not pretty, but it’s a win.
NEVER IN DOUBT
Thank God this hellish game is over and we won.
We need to make some adjustments, but I’m not even sure what they should be. We got good games out of RJ, Randle, Brunson, J-Hart and I-Hart at home with Butler out and it was life or death.
–Great GUTSY grind out victory with both Brunson and Randle limping on the floor at times.
–Brunson’s shooting came alive the last 15 minutes and gave us a lift.
–Gutsy move by Thibs to keep RJ out in the fourth.
–A very rare case when we got some whistles.
–Rebounds have been our big weapon as always.
–Saturday’s game will be critical. A Knicks win changes the psychology of this series.
–Never count out Miami and Spoelstra. Their scraps and old men had us on our knees for most of the game.
Ugly win. But a win nonetheless.
The Jimmy butler sleeveless with two diamond earrings look feels like it could be a potential spoiler.
Knicks in 5 still in play
I’m done with the Doom shit. I just want to fucking win. Don’t care anymore
Would need a rewatch but RJ is terrible on rotations. Might be why he was kept out. Against this set of Heat, you should shut them down and RJ can’t do that with this many shooters.
Edit: he also played 38min so that might make more sense
We could use the 3 days off, I know Jimmy can too but we have a bunch of banged up dudes
I guess it’s better than losing but this game inspires very little confidence. We barely eked it out at full strength, at home, in a must-win, against Bam and a bunch of replacement level scrubs.
They didn’t even shoot well or get a lot of calls or anything like that. Thibs is as outmatched as I would be in a game of Horse against Stephen Curry.
Sorry to be a downer.
Brunson came through when we needed him. Saturday will really tell the tale of the tape.
Time to look for Game 3 tickets…
The win is all that matters. Now let’s win game 3 on the road to put the heat on the Heat. 😀
At the end I was able to watch the game but honestly I didn’t have the H(e)art to comment during the game…
Too stressed and too busy using all my secret spells to counter-jinx some of your crazy takes (who wrote “Brunson has no turnovers” just to watch him dribbling off his feet on the next possession? Don’t you ever learn guys?).
These are the playoffs, an ugly win is a fucking win and nothing else matters.
Let’s Go Knicks!
Like I said, even in their reduced state, the Heat are a gatekeeper playoff team. They eat inexperienced or easily shook teams alive. Winning this game was a huge gut check for us. And yes, this is contra my insouciant stance from yesterday. I wad wrong then—and am a different man today!
I liked keeping RJ out, Grimes gives you more spacing (at least notionally) and RJ continually got burned on screens and switches. With Brunson coming alive you could exchange the offense for more defense for sure.
Was making a PB and J sandwich for my daughter who was hungry after watching this garbage. After Duncan made that final 3, I almost used the butter knife to stab the TV.
“…and nothing else matters.”
that’s right max and you asked for it…good way to celebrate the win
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAGnKpE4NCI
Also man I know how polarizing Melo was but it was fucking awesome seeing him cheering the Knicks.
Always a great anthem Pepper! 😀
Their scrubs just finally started missing. It still didn’t feel like we played all that well even when we went on the game winning run.
I still think these guys are beatable, but Thibs has to make some sort of adjustment to guard the perimeter better. Way way way too many easy looks from 3
Jesus this series is going to kill me, after this season I never want to face a Spoelstra team ever again. The zombie Heat meme is legitimately true, all those undrafted dudes wouldn’t be making the rotation of any other 2nd round playoff team and they’re out there making plays all game long. We’re getting outcoached hard and it’s not even because I think Thibs has been bad, the other guy is just too good.
Gutsy win that was 100% necessary, but we absolutely need IQ and Grimes to WAKE THE FUCK UP as soon as possible or this will be bad. Our only advantage over the Heat is having much higher quality depth, but our depth has been thoroughly outplayed so far in the series by theirs.
IQ only played 10min tonight.
We still really struggle with the zone but finally looked like we figured it out a bit. Hart was pretty key in breaking down the defense for that.
Spo put the leash on Thibs and took him out for his walk all game long.
The quality difference in ATO plays (for instance) was staggering…
Pagliacci, you’re the very definition of a downer! I could actually see what you look like if I googled “downer” and hit images.
I think three things happened. Much of our bench just sucked. That needs to stop. We have banged up guys who did pretty damn well anyway but could use three days off. And Thibs needs to coach them to shut down the three pointers.
Ooogly win, and many many boneheaded plays, and thibs not making defensive adjustments on their launch and three strategies (why are you fighting over picks and trapping!) ..just switch! but a win’s a win. A bad win > a good loss
That’s as bad as a win as you’ll ever see in the playoffs but it’s still a win. Head to Miami tied and let’s hope we take the long layoff to get right.
so far…this hasn’t been a good look for tommy thibs…but he can redeem hisself if they throw something at them on Sat that will put them on their heels….i ain’t holding my breath on that though…our bench (except the German howitzer hartenshhhhttttteiiin) can’t play any worse…i hope…
This LA-GS series is gong to be incredible
A win is a win is a win. But yes, they needed every lucky break to go their way to beat a Butler-less Heat team at home, so that’s…not great. But the win is great! Wins are much better than losses! They’re doomed, but this win is good.
38 year old Lebron physically bossing elite athletes 10 years younger than him is really crazy
Spo doing some whining about the refs after the game.
We got gifted several points on terrible calls, so Spo is not wrong.
Wow that was ugly and a nice gift from the officials, but we’ve been on the wrong side of so many calls, that I’ll take it. Onward. My fight or flight reflex is wiped. Rest up.
Do the heat win game one if Randle isn’t hurt?
Way I see it they got a freebie without Randle and we got a freebie without butler.
But heat culture is the real deal and we need to stop dismissing dudes like Lowry and love just bc they’re old. Old dudes like that can play like their prime selves come playoff time. No way the heat can keep shooting threes like this, right? We gotta run them off the line quicker.
A win is a win. They made shot after shot but we won. Now the series is tied and we play well on the road. Just gotta win one of the next two. Hopefully the next one! Butler will heal up but Randle and Brunson got a few days to heal too.
Still need IQ and Grimes to step up but these games are growing them up real quick!
we got some gifts but so did Miami. Scott Foster got the keep it close orders and he delivered
Amazingly the Heat only shot 34.7% from three (we shot 40%). They did take 49 of them though; mediocre average at extremely high volume is a real danger.
Run em off the line, you dingbats.
These Jalen and JHart post-game pressers are a goddamn delight, every time. This time, Josh snuck a pizza in with him: https://twitter.com/NBA_NewYork/status/1653606872664907777
Man I wish Thibs was smart enough to bitch about the refs when they don’t overtly favor us. It’s not a coincidence that Bickerstaff did it before game 2 and Darius Garland had double digit FTA in Q1. Phil Jackson used to do this to us all the time.
I fully expect Butler to annihilate us in game 3, but now he’s a good bet to set the single game FTA record along the way.
I just hope the players recognize this win for the lucky escape that it was. They better not show up to film study tomorrow patting themselves on the back. Good teams win that game by 20.
They need to play Game 3 like their backs are against the wall.
There’s a very good chance that they will, so that’s good, at least. It won’t matter, but I think they will show up like their backs are against the wall.
Definitely the funniest quote of the game thread so far (I’m only up to halftime, though).
Well played, Owen. I see what you did there.
Bullllllllll SHIT!
I love you, rama, but no. Ain’t no house money.
We’re playing the 8 seed in the second round and three of their 6 best players are hurt.
Waiting for us in the next round are two very beatable teams.
We may never be this good again; this may be the best opportunity the Knicks ever have.