Categories
Game Thread

2023-24 Game Thread: Knicks vs. Heat (Black Friday Opener, kind of a thing)

The Knicks host the Miami Heat in the next game of the amazing NBA In-Season Tournament, which everyone adores (in all seriousness, I don’t even have a problem with it, per se, it’s just kind of silly) with their first chance to avenge their loss against the Heat in the NBA Playoffs.

The Knicks are well positioned to do just that, as Coach Spoelstra is doing wonders with a walking injured roster of a team that is already down a number of contributors because it thought it was acquiring Dame Lillard and they never actually replaced important players like Gabe Vincent and Max Strus.

So hopefully the Knicks can take care of this ragtag Heat team and write their ticket to Las Vegas on Tuesday (or maybe lose a tiebreaker so they don’t have to play the better teams of the tournament? That’d be cool with me, too).

Let’s go, Knicks! Together we will be on the road to 53!

186 replies on “2023-24 Game Thread: Knicks vs. Heat (Black Friday Opener, kind of a thing)”

Hart just hesitated on a shoot around 3 if anyone was wonderin where he was with that🤦‍♂️

If is ESPN I’ll get that feed instead of MSG’s. It’s a real shame. Between away games and nationally televised games, I’ve watched the MSG feed only once or twice this season because Tencent shows National feeds if available or otherwise uses the home team feed.

the media really loves pushing the tournament agenda

It’s gotta be a moneymaker for them in the long run if people get excited for it

Somehow I’m watching college players shoot free throws in garbage time.

EDIT: Ah. I’m traveling. Forgot the time difference 😉

GO KNICKS!

Brian, I’m with you about the Heat,
when you read Miami’s roster and add the injuries it’s clear that Spoelstra is a druid, a genius, an alien coming from outer space…

Maybe it’s the lasagna talking but there’s a fascinating mistyque about it…

At least I get Breen in the National telecast.

And it looks like iHart is having trouble handling Bam.

At this point I’m just hoping the Knicks keep it close first few mins until they sit Grimes and bring in IQ plus DDV to make their run.

Game predictions:

Love 5+ 3pm
Lowry 4+ steals
Butler 10+ FTA
Bam 10+ blatant moving screens while fooling refs enough to keep Mitch in foul trouble

Heat hang on to a 4-6 point lead entire 2nd half but we never put together enough offense to really threaten to win.

I like this matchup, they play good defense, we play good defense, so both teams have to fight hard to get buckets.

Heat defense very impressive so far

They’re a sterling 9th in Drtg. Weird how every team that isn’t tanking looks fantastic against us defensively…

We’re gonna battle with them all game I think. Fun so far though!

Randle’s trash decision-making has us down. Can someone else run the offense please?

Zero offensive boards and lots of turnovers, so we’re not really playing our game, but the scoreboard says we’re hanging in there. Took the lead even!

Can’t tell whether RJ’s become a better finisher at the rim or our entire team becoming all-time-worst finishers is just making him look a lot better.

Heat defense very impressive so far
They’re a sterling 9th in Drtg. Weird how every team that isn’t tanking looks fantastic against us defensively…

Dude please stop

Continuing a trend from last season where the Knicks look less interested and enthusiastic when playing at home compared to the road.

A limping Jimmy Butler? The Knicks should know how to atta *touches earpiece* ah, I’m getting word that they don’t know how to attack that.

We’re hanging in there but it just seems like we’re relying on making a lot of difficult shots.

Also Julius is killing us.

What’s Randle’s record for turnovers? He’s got 6 already

9 for his career. 8 this season

Randle with 11 points on 7 shots, 4 rebounds, 5 assist. Looks like a great half until you get to the 6 damn turnovers

I have no fucking idea how the Knicks are up 1 at halftime but I’ll take it.

As always our offense is getting carried by our great fg% despite losing the rebounding and TO battle pretty badly /s

Yup EB, despite shooting bad from 3pt range Knicks were 16 for 26 from 2pt range in the 1st half.

Not digging the energy here in this game. We’re getting soundly outplayed other than the Heat missing a lot of their 3’s.

Knicks have looked flat the entire game, as I mentioned earlier it’s a trend carried over from last season where they seem much more energized playing on the road compared to playing at MSG.

What the hell did they do at halftime? Turkey dinner? It’s like they’re having a food coma now.

After this game I can imagine how insufferable this site will be next couple of days so think I’ll be logging off for the weekend…

I thought this was a really important game this early in the season. IMO this performance is a bad omen.

Julius Randle is like a living, breathing ceiling. There is only so far you are going with the offense running through that guy all the time.

At first I thought the new court was ok, but with the way the Knicks are playing, I never want to see this court again

Welp, I forgot to explicitly include the usual 3q collapse in my game predictions but rest assured, it was baked in from the start.

Jaimie Jacquez Jr… Exhibit 10,000 in the case against trading first round picks and paying $100MM for your bench players.

The Heat have our number. They are beating us on the offensive boards, doubling off our weak scorers and recovering well, and causing TOs. The rest of the league should just scout us when we play Miami.

Absolutely god awful effort right now. Compared to the Heat it’s so stark.

The Heat are like the old Spurs. They could find 5 guys playing street ball and get them to play a solid NBA game.

This isn’t just a “shots aren’t falling” kind of game. Everything we’re doing is low-percentage, we don’t move the ball well, and we’re getting manhandled physically.

It looks like we just play a different, more difficult sport than the top teams.

Julius Randle is like a living, breathing ceiling. There is only so far you are going with the offense running through that guy all the time.

He’s empty stats. Based on what Scott Perry has been saying he’s not going anywhere unless they find a young PF they think will be better, but they’ll probably trade for another SG instead.

It looks like we just play a different, more difficult sport than the top teams.

+1

Some of it Miami’s excellent defense, but our offense only looks good against trash defenses.

Maybe the reason we keep getting crushed in the 3Q is that we glue one of our best players to the bench for the first 8 minutes of it.

The Heat beat us 30-11 while IQ sat to start the half.

We’re up 25-13 since IQ entered.

That Hart 3 in and out was basically the game

And Josh Richardson has been horrendous from 3…until tonight

I just preordered “Crud In The Garden: the all-access Scott Perry story” by the acclaimed biographer Strat O. Matic. (I hope it arrives by Christmas.)

Maybe the reason we keep getting crushed in the 3Q is that we glue one of our best players to the bench for the first 8 minutes of it.

Our coach and management are too stubborn. We especially need him in there against this Heat team because they defend well and double off our weak scorers in spots. We need Quickley in there as another threat.

Obi’s having a nice, efficient night so far, and zero turnovers… just sayin’.

What about Sam Hauser? 😉

Well shit.

Win or lose, they deserve a lot of credit for not quitting and fighting their way back into it. Props.

What was I saying earlier?

Not the morons line. The one before that…

Under Thibs we simply do not quit. The man has his flaws but it’s an extremely notable aspect of his tenure.

They had two chances at the dagger 3 and missed both. Now they have to hit free throws.

There aren’t enough crows in the USA for the KB piss in the punchbowl crowd to eat tonight…

RJ defended pretty well on that 3 attempt.

Well done lads, this one looked like a sure L, and instead it’s a huge W. Game ball to Thibs, these guys come to play for him.

I don’t think Randle touched the ball in the half court in the last five minutes. Thank God.

Our bench unit is very strong with RJ. They play faster and get easier shots. They get the game ball. Our starters weren’t very good overall.

I like Grimes, but we need an upgrade there on offense if Thibs is going to be too stubborn to start Quickley. We can’t get almost no offense from both Mitch and Grimes.

Actually shocked at the turn of events. The third quarter was a bloodbath. One of the best comebacks you will ever see.

Hartenstein also deserves his props. On a night where Mitch wasn’t himself our favorite German-American really came through.

The Eighth Avenue freeze out of Randle down the stretch was key

Hartenstein also deserves his props. On a night where Mitch wasn’t himself our favorite German-American really came through.

It’s nice that they’re roughly similar in effect but have different skillsets

All I have to say is that if we didn’t incinerate that 19th pick this game wouldn’t have been close. 😉😉😉

I can’t love this guy any more

“Honestly, a fan looked at me in my eye over here and said ‘This is embarrassing.’ So I’ll say him”

–– Jalen Brunson to Cassidy Hubbarth on what motivated him in the Knicks 21-point comeback win over Miami

Damn I missed this one but it looked like a hell of a game. Maybe teams are actually trying harder because of the tournament? I guess every Heat Knicks game is already incentive enough for guys to try hard. No better feeling than beating this franchise.

Miami look like they ran out of gas in the 4th, especially elder statesmen Lowry and Butler. Maybe Bam too, he’s been banged up, doesn’t usually blow that dunk. And Richardson was chasing Brunson around all game.

Quickley came out with his fresh legs and gave the team an unbelievable jolt.

IQ was magnificent.

My faith in Grimes is waning as well. He still defends. It’s just amazing how little he gets to the rim though. And how little he shoots.

Game ball to Thibs, these guys come to play for him.

Fuck that, dude kept the same 5 guys on the court during a 19-0 run.

Game ball to Quickley bc he turned this game around when the coach finally stopped sniffing glue and put him in the game with the team down 18.

The two best players on the team didn’t share the court together until there were 6 minutes to play. The Knicks outscored the Heat 18-5 in those 6 minutes. Enough of this bullshit. Play the best players.

I do think teams are trying harder. I don’t care how big your contract is, half a million dollars is still half a million dollars. And for a lot of players that’s a really nice bonus.

“I do think teams are trying harder. I don’t care how big your contract is, half a million dollars is still half a million dollars. And for a lot of players that’s a really nice bonus.”

I don’t really see it…I think it’s more likely that fans read into the hype. But sure, it’s possible!

Grimes is 4th option and passive, but even when he gets the ball he’s not doing much other than shooting 3s. He doesn’t create anything. We don’t get much scoring out of Mitch either. So we are practically playing 3 on 5 hoping that Mitch as least gets OREBs to give us extra shots. Maybe if we had 2 elite scorers on the floor we could get away with that, but as is I think we need someone that can do more than Grimes. We were all hoping he was going to make a jump this year, but so far he hasn’t. If we aren’t going start Quickley and Brunson despite the fact that they look so good together, then we need to make a trade to upgrade wing. I still say we make a big push for OG and move RJ to SG, but we have to do something. Maybe DDR should start if Thibs is going to remain stubborn about Quickley.

Randle throws some really bad passes even when they get to the right man they’re low and outside.

Also, we’re in good cup position with an easy matchup and a +18 so far

“This game is why you get good reserves”

You mean like Josh Hart? With his 4-7 for 10 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal?

I know he’s no Jaime Jaquez Jr. but we’ll just have to make do.

So we are practically playing 3 on 5

And sometimes one of those 3 is Bad Randle!!

I still like Grimes but it is ridiculous how much better IQ is than him.

Keeping him away from Brunson is like choosing to not play Klay with Steph.

“After this game I can imagine how insufferable this site will be next couple of days so think I’ll be logging off for the weekend…”

See ya tomorrow so we can both enjoy the spin, BBA.

Beating the EC champs is so mezzanine… and we did it with one hand (Randle) tied behind our back…

“Beating the EC champs is so mezzanine… and we did it with one hand (Randle) tied behind our back…”

Imagine how much we would have beaten them by if only we had a competent coach…

Don’t care if Grimes starts but IQ needs 30min a night. Donte should be better with the starters with his motion, but it might be wasted with Randle either missing him or throwing it where he used to be.

Knicks have the 3rd best tournament point differential in the East so if they win on Tuesday they should be the Wild Card team. Unless Bucks lose to Heat and Knicks destroy Charlotte then they’ll win the group but Bucks are 1 of the 2 teams with a better point differential.

It looks like Knicks might be headed to a quarterfinal trip at Indy or Milwaukee if I’m looking at the group standings correctly. But I honestly don’t give a shit about this tournament I just want to continue stacking up regular season wins and honestly prefer not to travel to Vegas. Knicks have a long west coast trip the following week so that would be an insane travel schedule for them.

Ha Ha well Raven I said it kinda in jest, as much as I complain about some of the comments it really is all in fun and is what makes this site so great.

I’m finding myself agreeing with Strat about pretty much everything these days.

Grimes made one FG tonight: it was at the end of the first half when Randle passed the ball to him, there was about 1 second on the clock, and there was no defender in the vicinity.

I’m glad he made that shot, but that was his entire offensive output. He still hasn’t made a free throw this season. He’s just shrinking into complete nothingness.

Grimes had a nice pass to Mitch for a dunk after attacking a closeout. But yeah, nowhere near enough

I get that the Grimes vs. other players thing is frustrating, but this team needs Grimes to be the same confident player he was last year to do anything. As has been noted, having a higher usage player like IQ on the floor with Brunson, Randle and RJ will possibly water down that player’s impact. If Grimes doesn’t snap out of it, there will likely be adjustments made. For now, I’m fine with it. Worth keeping an eye on, though.

Randle had an absolutely terrible game. But we’re not going anywhere without either of them, so being that he was a massive part of the win against the Hawks, I’ll let this go. Same with Mitch, he got absolutely schooled by Bam tonight after being significantly outplayed by Gobert, but not ready to write him off just yet.

This was maybe the first time this year that Josh Hart looked like he was the athletic, high-motor kind of player we had last year. He gave us some really good minutes down the stretch, really looked like himself.

“Well I’ll be damned. I should predict our certain doom more often.”

You must be proud…sort of like the guy who cuts rancid farts while bashing the food and music at a party and then takes credit for folks having a good time in spite of him.

Just finished the game, then went through the game thread. Oh but it was hilarious to read the 3rd quarter comments.

Yes Raven, we do indeed have a very seriously skittish crew here at the good ship knickerblogger.

I got to wonder – are you all this insane in person?

I sincerely would like to witness that. I would find it immensely amusing.

I can only imagine the numerous shrieks of exclaim throughout the event.

That’s funny. I haven’t laughed that well in a while.

I would be laughing with you – totally.

“so, where is the place most folks go to after a game at the garden?”

It’s NYC so there’s a million choices. My buddies and I are currently partial to Pennsylvania 6, just around the corner. But over the years there have been lots of venues.

I’ll be at Sunday’s game vs. Suns…Penn 6 is the likely meeting up place.

thanks z-man…yum, just looked at their menu, the french dip with fries looked really nice…

it’s good to hear you talk about spending time with your friends…the sunday games seem like a great day to go see basketball…everything moves at a slower pace…

Comments are closed.