I don’t like repeating Dylan on these things, but, well, I don’t think I can help it, as this one is just far too apropos.
When you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing to lose
You’re invisible now, you’ve got no secrets to conceal
How does it feel, ah how does it feel?
To be on your own, with no direction home
Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone
On Wednesday night, the Knicks played as if they had nothing to lose, and they threw everything at the Heat, with Jalen Brunson and Quentin Grimes both playing all 48 minutes of a big Knicks win. The Heat, meanwhile, did play Jimmy Butler 42 minutes, but they were 42 wobbly minutes (as Early Bird correctly noted, Butler was blocked four times during the game – that’s weird). The Heat otherwise spread its minutes around, and pretty much looked like shit once they cut the lead down to 4 with five or so minutes left, and only some odd turnovers by the Knicks kept the Heat in the game from that point forward (and Spo tried some stupid gimmick shit with Hack-a-Mitch, which Mitch foiled by making 3-4 of his free throws during that stretch. Gee, big fella, if concentrating on your free throws seems to help, maybe do that every time you shoot free throws, okay?).
The Knicks have to do that again tonight, just throw everything they have at the Heat. If Brunson and Grimes have to play the full game again, then whatever, they have to play the full game again. Do whatever it takes. The Heat have to be feeling the pressure. Push up that pressure as much as you can. Don’t let Jimmy Butler beat you (unless Butler plays like he did in Game 5, of course, then you can let him try). Force their other players to come up big. Kevin Love couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn. Make him beat you. Make Spo give Duncan fucking Robinson more minutes. Outwork them again like the Knicks did in Game 5. You ain’t got nothing, Knicks, so you have nothing to lose. Turn up the heat on the Heat.
It won’t matter, as the Heat will obviously win, but hey, imagine if they don’t (they will)? It would be great (it won’t happen…but what if it does? It won’t, but what if? No what if, as they won’t. But maybe? But nope), and we would all feel great (but we won’t).
Even though they are doomed, here’s a perfunctory Let’s Go, Knicks!
512 replies on “2023 Playoffs Round 2 Game Thread: The Ain’t Got Nothing Knicks @ Heat, Game 6”
Josh, if you have an open 3, take it
Don’t think twice, it’s alright
Let’s Go Doomed Knicks!
One game! Just one game! Do whatever it takes. Play physical, play dirty like they have been playing, get to the lose balls, give the extra effort. Whatever it takes! One game. Let’s go, let’s do it!!! Let’s fucking go!!!
A little bit of Deuce might go a long way. Let’s go!!
🎶 I don’t need your organization, I’ve shined your shoes
I’ve moved your mountains and marked your cards
But Eden is burning, either getting ready for elimination
Or else your hearts must have the courage for the changing of the guards🎶
Make your FTs, Mitch, don’t let them embarrass you! Gooooo Knicks! 🏀
Doom awaits! But hopefully in game 7
very interesting, josh hart just had a baby, well, his partner just had a baby…
ahhhh, that explains some of his recent play…
Mitch on foul shooting
Congrats to Josh Hart on the birth of his twin sons today. Now go ball out on their B-Day!
Go New York Go New York GO!!!!
ugh, they just flashed a shot at dirty ass bam…
every knick on the floor tonight should get a hit in on him…
Josh Hart spent too much time watching his wife give birth. We’re dooomed.
Stephen A just picked the Heat b/c DOOM
Kudos to J-Hart and his wife for their twin boys!
alright we got a rebound that’s auspicious
Rj has the eye of the tiger
If Josh Hart was a true professional he would have considered on that mid-August evening that, 9 months from now, his Blazers might be playing in the playoffs, and, to save from unnecessary distraction, faked his orgasm.
RJ again clowned Jimmy on D there.
Get strus out of there
This guy announcing play-by-play sounds like he’s on the radio…
I kind of like it.
Nice…expose no dee strus
Where’s Jim Jackson? I can’t stand Richard Jefferson.
TNT>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>ESPN
Randle was lazy on that loose ball a few minutes ago. I’m already screaming at my TV.
Indeed he was.
Yeah Jefferson likes to hear himself
So far so good with the refs…seems even
Miami fans are really surprised that the refs are allowed to call fouls against them
I was in the car briefly and on NBA radio the home announcers are already complaining about the officiating
Why aren’t we running back to defend?
(and yes, Randle’s loose ball effort was really annoying…)
“Miami fans are really surprised that the refs are allowed to call fouls against them”
Totally!
Spo’s big adjustment since Wednesday was to turn Max Strus into Mac McClung.
I’m betting the under on 4.5 minutes for Jefferson to start talking about “the time i played against the Knicks… bla, bla, bla…“
We’re making them pay for double teams so far…mainly cuz We’re getting calls..
Scott Foster Knicks MVP so far 🙏
It’s against my better judgment to say it, but a tiny part of me thinks we can win.
Come on guys! Just this once, and I’ll forgive whatever happens in Game 7!
Lowry is in, where’s Deuce, coach? 😀
Ryan Ruocco is the PBP guy tonight, he’s one of the alternate Yankees announcers. Hosts a podcast with CC Sabathia.
Fuck…just make butler go left…better than right…
How many illegal screens has Adebayo been called for? Until that number is more than 0 I don’t want to hear a damn thing about Scott Foster, thank you very much.
Must be demoralizing getting rejected like that by Julius Randle
RJ is learning with Jimmy on how to draw fouls. Nice!
RJ’s starting to get to the line at will.
RJ making his free throws
What a block by Randle!!
I’m liking Barrett’s attack mode, but part of me kinda wants to see him make one…
At least we’ve come out hard and not tight.
Grim3s
A great moment from Game 6 was RJ getting tied up with Lowry off-ball and manufacturing a hooking foul… great to see the craftiness continue
Jalen BrunsHIM
Great playmaking by iHart
Brunson is good, but he’s no number one
Brunson on fire
This is the way we come back to the Garden!
Fuck yeah
Fantastic start.
I guess the Knicks want it more….
I’m trying not to get too excited….
These first quarter leads are usually meaningless but it’s way better to be the team up 14
IQ looks like he went shopping in South Beach today…nice outfit ..
Amazing! Randle on fire too!
We’re better let’s win
I have thoughts but I’m going to wait until I can’t jinx us to express them.
Until then: everyone has played really well.
It looks like the Little General, Good Julius and the Canadian Guy came to play tonight…
I love the annoyed voice of Jefferson having to praise Randle and Brunson! 😀
This whistle I can live with 😉
WE ARE COOKING
Up 14 and Yahoo still only gives us 55% to win lol
Some promising signs have been there — we’ve played steadily better since the G3 disaster, and in G5 we actually had them on their heels for the first time.
Please, basketball gods, let us eat their fucking hearts!
Brunson working on his playoff beard
Yeah, first quarter wins mean nothing, but it’s great that we’re playing very well.
The Heat… are… DOOMED.
With Bam out, Randle must go to the hole.
EDIT: Instead of turning it over, for example. Does Randle ever run after his own mistakes? Asking for a friend.
Sorry, my mistake…
Randle didn’t even WALK back on defense after the turnover…
So predictable.
I don’t trust a big lead anyway
Oh man, here we go with the unforced errors 🙁
Bad turnover. Both Brunson and Randle were too casual.
Goddammit I knew I should have kept my mouth shut
Good God, Randle.
Some bad plays there
Kyle Lowry’s hands are venom, we need to take better care of the ball…
7 point lead? I will take that every day
Great 1Q.
Really wish we could bring IQ in right now.
Repeat after me:
It’s only the 1st quarter and anyway we are DOOMED
Looking good…need one more guy to give some scoring…
Despite the unforced errors at the end, if we play like that for the game this is a W. Let’s go!!!!!
I love watching iHart hopping around having kittens over a blown call…
It’s too hard to watch Randle play. Im screaming so much my girlfriend is threatening to throw me out. I may have to shut the game off and watch Battle Bots.
I’ll take a 30 point quarter up 7.
Feels weird to say this, but our execution got worse when RJ sat.
Just got here.
What a block by Randle. Haven’t seen many of those from him.
Winning the first quarter won’t take the sting out of losing this game.
I also love Barrett’s box — 0-2 for 8 points…
Really, what is Randle doing? Sulking because JB is carrying us on his back? Dude, figure it out. Bam has locked you up? Go after Zeller.
Julius with 5 rebounds, that’s a good sign.
It’ll be cruel irony when the wheels fall off after such a strong first quarter bc we’re so DOOMED and such.
Harts ability to score in transition but no other time is pretty weird
Not sure about the Toppin 30 footer.
Hart should go at Robinson all day long in transition.
Bam is a really good player. I liked him in the draft but he is way better than expected.
iHart can’t defend Bam
TOs are killing us, as usual
This lineup has no offense…
argh
It was fun while it lasted.
Point RJ is ghastly
This lineup …
unforced errors are brutal
Knicks lead in turnovers 5-1.
Well, it was fun to dream. See you guys next season.
… fucking sucks.
This combination of players was a tactical suicide,
it could cost us the game…
Well Miles did block Bam there…
Uggggh. We miss IQ badly.
Just put JB back in and I’m not worried
Hmm, can’t say I know what Thibs is doing with this lineup, but as a Miami Heat superduperfan I’ll take it.
Yeah down by 1 turn off your TVs
Let’s never try that lineup again, thanks.
We should rest Brunson but how the fuck do you not stagger that with Randle?
Not sure what Thibs was up to there.
Getting some rest, don’t panic
Yeah if you’re going to sit Brunson you have to have Randle or Hartenstein out there to move the ball. Terrible lineup decision.
They are starting to panic a little. Bad TOs and shots as soon as the Heat stepped on the gas a bit.
Can’t give away possessions in the playoffs.
Have I mentioned we desperately miss IQ?
RJ playing very well until JB sits and then he just starts spraying the ball all over the place. Just lob it to mitch dummy
Even Richard Jefferson noted that you need to stagger your scorers.
That’s embarrassing, Thibs.
This dumb MF just ran out a Deuce-Hart-RJ backcourt with two bigs in an elimination game.
I’m guessing JB sits no more
My Miami buddy’s comment
“That was the first steal of Duncan Robinson’s career”
Just got in. Knicks and Mets trailing, but close. Let’s go guys!
This series would be over if we had a healthy sharp Quickley.
There we go Obi
Miami is a plus-29 in the 22 mins Brunson sat in the series !? 😮
Obi!!
OBI
OBIIIII
Obi from both corners!
Turn on the TV again, people, we’re here to fight!
YES OBI
if mitch made that I would have lost it
It isn’t weird, you dumb Jefferson, it’s because Brunson is amazing!
I think I can count the post up moves I have seen Mitch try on one hand. Feel the same DRed.
Mitch sleep walking through this one
RJ has been playing great D he’s closing out so well
Take care of the fucking ball!
They’re like piranhas, you can’t play easy…
I didn’t see a foul by Barrett there…
Great adjustment by Thibs: bringing the big up to set screens in the backcourt to free up Brunson
Vincent looks like Steph freaking Curry tonight.
Scott Fucking Foster again
Is Mitch awake?
Randle is making some dumb passes that end in turnovers. He needs to meditate a little.
Body language is not good…only Brunson now…rest look discombobulated…need to make sure no run here before the half
They have still not mentally adjusted to how hard Miami is playing. The Knicks are playing hard, but not with the extreme mental focus and high IQ that is required. Miami gets way too many easy shots and points off bad TOs. They are not better than us. They are smarter than us.
Is it just me or does Ryan Ruocco get way more excited for Heat baskets than a Knicks baskets?
Julius is gonna score tonight, right?
As expected, this is a war…
What do you mean? 😮
MOVING SCREEN CALL ON BAM!!!
I now have no doubt that the tide has turned.
Just noting a Bam foul on a moving screen…
A Bam illegal screen !?!?
What is Luka thinking right now?
Grimes is averse to driving to the hole
Let’s end the half on a high note
That isn’t a foul on JB.
Total horseshit foul on Brunson
That was a shove by Strus.
That was a foul on Strus. These refs suck ass. Why don’t they just tell us up front the series won’t be reffed impartially.
alright I guess
It’s sad how much better Bam is than Mitch and iHart combined.
Fine half literally the only issue is the foul trouble/the officiating (SCOTT FOSTER STOP FUCKING US)
Bam playing out of his mind. Someone (Anthony Mason?) gotta stop that short.
If not for that Frankenstein’s monster of a 2Q lineup we’d still have a lead
Bam to talk to the reporter, immediately stopped the stream. I’m starting to hate this guy.
New task: we need to win the 2nd half by 2 pts.
He’s elite on defense and very good on offense. He can do a lot of things.
If Bam is elite, why does he set a moving screen every God damn time?
Miami just 2 for 12 from three? That scares me. OTOH, Randle hasn’t yet had his obligatory one good quarter, so he’s due.
I know Brunson can’t dominate the ball on every possession, but the Randle isos are definitely not working.
Halftime chuckleheads clamoring for Obi. I’m worried about Brunson’s fouls. Gotta have plan B for at least five minutes this half.
EDIT: Jalen Rose wearing a wig?
What did Jalen Rose do to his hair?
Did he fall headfirst in a barrell of shoe polish?
Or is it a wig?
Wow, Stephen A is terrible. It’s like the Nic Cage skit. Everything is whispered or screamed. Have managed to avoid him for a few years.
halftime folks suggesting more obi, less julius…that may just be the ticket…
brunson and grimes need to stay on the court til the end…
it feels like we’re getting dominated at the five…
The TNT crew are idiots
I cannot look at Jalen Rose the same since Donnie blew up his spot. That hair dye… it’s comical.
The first half doesn’t matter. The game starts now.
I’ve been trying to figure out the Jalen Rose hair situation for quite awhile.
Is that Malkovich on the NBA Finals ad?
If so we got our Teddy KGB “hanging around” hahaha
The times I’ve watched Lakers-Warriors, it’s like a different sport. Dancing vs. wrestling.
it’s all show for the most casual of fans…
I remember when they had marie taylor – she was both really talented and unbelievably attractive…
Brunson needs some help this half.
Who scores first, Mitch or the Mets?
Or are both shut out?
I think the best option is to put Deuce with the other 4 starters. The bench without Quick is bad at offense, so it’ll be easier for Deuce if he has good options on offense to pass the ball to.
I’m not a Warriors fan, but I’m hoping they beat the Lakers tonight and Curry goes off for 50.
The team that wins this game is the better team overall.
Heat with only 2 turnovers. A team that never beats itself.
rose is married to the host of first take – molly q.
he gets a big pass on a lot stuff he’s done/does…
he did help bring in them low shorts and high socks look…I liked that at the time…
I don’t know – my hair is nothing to speak of, so, yeah…
what’s funniest about “cosmetic” “enhancement” – the human eye is keyed to spotting stuff that’s off – like waaaay too dark a head of hair…
I wanna see him leak like guiliani…
Yeah, as much as I vomit a little in my mouth whenever the announcers genuflect and talk about “Heat (cough, Riley) culture”, I agree we could learn a lot from them.
Randle is holding the ball too long
That’s better…we need to aggressively attack…that is how we got calls
Is that doishbag jj Reddick announcing?
I’m gonna go walk the dog…remind myself how not so important all this sport stuff is…
I’m gonna go do what Donnie do 🙂
Jesus RJ make that layup
Our centers are not acquitting themselves well
These announcers are so annoying even JJ.
Redick talking like we’re down 20 fucking points
Julius 2-9 RJ Barrett 1-6… the Little General needs help
Yes, Julius! Keep going at Bam. Get HIM in foul trouble.
It’s simple…punish them for the aggressive overplay on the perimeter…
Hey, I’m actually kind of enjoying this game.
I just turned off the sound…way better
Julius is feeling it.
Every time he shoots from that side I think of that crazy game winner he had.
I think he’s going to have a big 2H.
got the heat feeling overconfident now, just where we want them
Grimes needs to GO TO THE HOLE
Grimes is an offensive zero tonight
I don’t like to do that because i need to hear the crowd. But if there was an option to turn off the commenting…
Yeah this series is close to being over.
Not looking great
An airball so close to the basket !?
Canadian Guy out RJ Barrett in…
Just no rhythm. I agree Thibs should have staggered someone in already, either Deuce or Obi to avoid the Death Lineup. Instead fourth foul on RJ, so I’m assuming JHart is on deck.
Key moment here, this could get to double digits pretty quickly.
Keep cool, guys, we’ll get back in front again before the end of the quarter.
Note: saying we’re doomed is not working anymore, might as well make wild predictions! 😀
Jefferson is a known Knick hater, Redick doesn’t take the Knicks seriously from his tenure as a player, Ruocco is less seasoned so he kind of feeds off their critical energy. Announcing is rough.
we should maybe think about scoring some points. just one man’s opinion
This is game 1…all over again
BRUNSON!!
Dude is working so hard, though. We need to let someone else bring the ball up the court.
Two point game
Refs back against us…no foul on the Brunson play…but butler gets that call…wtf
We didn’t win game 1, so… no.
Butler will be parading to the line the rest of this game
This is like trench warfare on offense
Is JJ trying to be more annoying than Richard Jefferson?
Of course you are; the Heat are up 4.
Horrible defense by Randle!
Randle’s defense is getting to my nerves
Randle’s defense is infuriating.
Just keep close…win the 4th.
I feel that Spo’s strategy is to George Foreman Brunson the way Ali did in the Rumble in the Jungle… wear him out for when it counts.
Hanging in there.
How can we win when Josh Hart is unplayable?
Announcers are trash, but they’re not wrong about Brunson working too hard to get into the front court. Grimes or JHart should bring it up a few times to spell him — and NOT Randle.
Agreed
So much better with no sound…
Terrible call.
There’s a lot of work to do on our fastbreak this summer…
Big shot by Lowry
Don’t know how many isos from Julius we need today
And not corralling that rebound – brutal
That was a great bucket from Lowry
Foul harder, iHart
Why did we do this one time and then stop??
We can’t give Brunson a rest but we gotta give him a break.
There can’t possibly be a more boring, annoying team to watch than the Heat.
Terrible quarter only down 3. Now we should have a good quarter
Brunson does not get the calls Butler does
Is Ruocco the Heat home announcer? When Brunson scores he barely mentions it.
Mr 3rd team all NBA needs to show up in the 4th qtr…
3 pt game, it’s better than what we feared at some point
Anybody else think Thibs should put the McBride/Barrett/Toppin/ Hartenstein/Grimes lineup back in to start the 4th?
Lucky to be only down 3 with our offense as gummed up as this.
RJ gotta be boiling over watching this from the bench. I hope we get the right one in Q4.
If Julius plays even half as well as he has in the regular season we win
Ruocco seems to be swayed by the home crowd
What a block by IHart
Yeah only three more days.
This is a joke… (the lane violation)
Well I have never seen a double lane violation before
Jefferson saying the Knicks should give RJ some iso plays to get himself back in the game — LOLWUT
We need these foul calls
Butler < 100%
When Brunson starts getting superstar calls – he’s probably a year away – he’s going to be even better.
EDIT: or maybe it starts now!
Fucking Caleb Martin has killed us
Brunson never stops grinding
fuck you spo!
No foul on RJ? What the hell?
If I said what I think should happen to these refs I’d regret it.
Bonus is big
Helluva time for RJ to revert back to being RJ.
Cmon RJ
jesus christ rj
Let’s just live at the foul line the rest of the way. Down for that. Have a 90 minute quarter.
Why is RJ so bad at short passes
Get it together RJ, damn.
We’re grinding
77-76 in the 4Q of a Knicks Heat playoff game. I feel like I’m in college again.
Fuck. Trapping was strange. Not sure this is happening.
Alright. Bring Randle back.
Losing this series without Butler having to really do anything is something else.
I’m glad I took my blood pressure meds today.
Going to go join geo on the dog walk…
JB’s getting a tiny little help from the Hart Foundation but all the others are shrinking to the occasion…
Pure grind fest.
Strus is a much more complete player than I gave him credit for. I thought he was just a Bomb Squader, but he moves well, defends, rebounds, makes plays, etc…
Could we be any more ice cold from 3
Someone needs to make some shots very soon for us
Where are the easy points gonna come from. Brunson can take care of the hard ones.
They have too many guys who can bury a 3.
Biggest 7 minutes of Randle’s career coming up he needs to deliver. Brunson can’t do it by himself.
Let’s see who we are…
it might be joever
Please take RJ out.
Wasn’t gonna post, but it’s over. Good season
Well, that will do it
Butler gets off the floor a lot quicker than RJ
I would just let Brunson take every shot
I’m hoping these last 6 minutes are what Randle conserved all his energy for.
And I don’t mean Jimmy fucking Butler
Randle just isn’t it.
Well, this has been kind of a fun game, but I’m gonna have to leave now. Good luck over the last 5 minutes. I don’t expect to see the Knicks play again this year, but my affection for you all supersedes my distaste for Dolan & Co, so if I have to wait a little longer for my beloved PessimismBlogger to return, so be it.
Make both RJ. Strong recommendation
Or miss it that badly
We’re right fucking there but it feels like 20
Four point game
Still grinding
Josh has to take that layup
The next time J-Hart refuses an open shot I’m gonna slap him in the face.
RJ is just out of it
Josh Hart is going to make a huge play that makes this sound stupid later but man he is Ben Simmonsing this game and it’s killing us. They don’t even guard him.
Rick fuck duck
Julius can’t lose the ball in such quintessential fashion at this juncture.
Randle.
Problem is the heat have no respect for other Knick shooters.
Swarming Randle, Brunson, and RJ
maybe sat too long.
Brunson deserves better.
Who knew that the ghost of Kyle Lowry would be the difference in this series?
Brunson 12-18 Rest of starters 5-31.
It’s like Randle never knows the score or the time on the clock or both. And then he hangs his head and just gets worse. Brunson has to slap him and get him focused.
EDIT: Randle is not even listening to Thibs on the bench. WTF?
Easy solution for the summer… we need another Brunson! 😀
I’m happy with this season, even if it ends in 5-10 minutes.
The good news is, in this current NBA landscape, there’s no mid-late 10’s Warriors, no 00’s Lakers, no Duncan-led Spurs, nor 90s Bulls type of teams right now. The gap between “good” (where we are) and title contender is not as wide as it would be in previous years. We know we have at least one guy who can score when the lights get brighter and the defenses toughen – that’s more than we had a year ago.
Brunson keep carrying us
that’s an insane stat. Can’t win like that
All nba…my ass
Rest of starters 5-31
Someone should bring Lowry up on larceny charges
Strus has killed us too
Brunson has been magic and we are going to waste it. Kills me
Like I agree Hart should shoot 3s more but come on be realistic
Hart to wide open shots , I hate you
Brunson should demand a trade.
I could literally cry thinking about my affection for Jalen Brunson. Get this man a real fucking running mate.
And Brunson didn’t even make the All Star Game …
All these double teams are working so well because the Heat are not covering Josh Hart.
It’s a shame we blew this.
How many times has RJ been stripped?
All these double teams are working so well because the Heat are not covering Josh Hart.
Rest of starters 5-31. 5-31. 5-31.
Great season fellas
Yeah, Mitch (pt 1)
YEAH, MITCH (pt 2)
Right…1pt…starting center…embarrassing
sucks we’re going to waste mitch clutch FTs
Such fucking stupid defense.
Horrible double
What lost us this game is constantly doubling butler
We are obviously going to lose here because we have never had a play that releases a three point shooter and still don’t.
RJ had such a good start tonight, but the fouls just derailed him.
Doubling not helping us
WTF is that defense?
RJ and Randle are 17/19 at the line, but yeah, their 4/24 from the field really hurts.
Now no whistle. Fuck right off.
If this is flagrant, that would be huge.
That is a flagrant
It’s not that Miami is great. However, this is an elimination game with Randle checked out and RJ being his regular season awful self. Combined 4-24 shooting from two of your three best papers. How can a team win like this? We got the best player on the floor, Jalen Brunson, but he cannot beat the Heat by himself.
This is the limit of this Knicks roster. It needs to be revamped so that better shooters, clutch players, and winning players come in.
Flagrant
THAT’S A FLAGRANT!!!!
This is a flagrant
Butler fouled the shit out of Brunson.
HE PUNCHED HIM IN THE FACE
Flagrant, clearly
You gotta call flagrant.
What a call!
Wow.
Refs found a call they couldn’t mess up
Brunson was fouled on that drive
IT’S NOT OVER
Omg
So sad…
It’s over.
That did suck. Brunson didn’t want to give Josh that open three. The Heat left him wide open
NOOOOOOOOOO
They had a timeout, how did he not call the timeout?
I can’t believe what Brunson just did.
Fuck
Brunson still deserves flowers despite that critical turnover. He is the sole reason we were in this game.
Brunson should’ve just launched a 3pter when he got the space and gone for the win.
We’ve been play 4 on 5 all 4Q.
Yeah Owen, Brunson had J-Hart open and didn’t pass him the ball… he didn’t trust him… sad
He didn’t trust Hart to shoot an open 3 and it’s hard to blame him
Doom.
Miami is getting away with doubles and triples. No respect for Knicks other guys.
Brunson fucked up there but without him we’re a 25 win team.
Missed IQ
Well, good season.
He’s only human, after all.
Grimes. Jeez
Exactly. But Randle could have moved faster.
ah well, I feel badly for JB, his teammates let him down
Brave, brave finish. Jalen Brunson is on the verge of superstardom and we are blessed to have him here.
dammit…
Fuck it. Nice season.
It’s not Brunson, it that most of our players cannot make a fucking shot!
Well, it was a great season. We just fell short of the ECF. We need to take the next step next season.
We didn’t learn anything from this game we didn’t already know. RJ and Randle are not consistently good enough shooters as major options and both are low basketball IQ players. Against playoff caliber pressure and defense their weaknesses are exaggerated. One of them HAS to GO. Absolutely HAS to go.
Ooof. Great season. Love you guys. Hurts to see the sadness on Clyde’s face in the crowd. Let’s take this experience and re-group. Jalen is gonna take the blame, but we all know that is not the case. Into the off-season. Here’s to fewer flame wars tomorrow.
I sure do love Jalen Brunson.
I still can’t believe that final turnover.
No complaints about this season need to find some fucking shooters tho
Guy scored 41 points on 22 shots. Sucks he turned it over but would’ve been nice if one of his teammates showed up to play.
I’m so proud of these guys. A couple dumb mistakes, but there was heart out there tonight. They’re going to be back there and better. They showed they can be there the past two games. I think we’ve got a run in us the next few seasons.
You are spot on. Depending on what will be available moving forward, BOTH of them may be traded.
Brunson & the Harts: 20-34
Everyone else: 7-37
PS — I know you dance with the one you came with, but I think Thibs should have stuck with Obi down the stretch. At least he’ll shoot the damn three ball.
Proud of my boys
still, great season. I had a lot of fun rooting for this team.
This Heat team might be one of the worst Conference Finalists ever.
I’m not sure, but it looked to me like he was trying to hit a cutting Randle. But, I think Randle was just crashing the boards, anticipating Brunson shooting there.
We have an elite player – one of the best in the NBA.
As others said, the Randle/Barrett duo needs to be broken up to open up the offense. Clearly, we need at least one more skilled shot-maker.
I’m glad RJ had his moments in these playoffs b/c I feel better about selling him to potential trade suitors. I think Randle, even with his rebound season, may be a harder sell.
We win this series with a healthy IQ that plays to his season’s averages. I think he and Grimes are the two young guys I can see absolutely killing it to work on their games this summer.
The Heat were better. The big differences were:
Adabayo > Robinson
Lowry > IQ/McBride
Butler > Grimes
Heartbreaking loss. But a gritty, grind-it-out slug fest of a series. Just like 1993-95 era Knicks. We back! Looking forward to next season and seeing what we take away from this.
I honestly think the Heat will win the next round. I don’t think it mattered who came out of this series. Both of these teams are battering rams that I don’t think anyone else in the NBA could handle this year.
Yeah Clash he was trying to pass to Randle but Vincent dropped down and deflected the pass if not fouled him.
God, if it’s a Celtics-Heat series, who do you root for?
I would trade both for Mikal, if Brooklyn is interested.
Gotta hope this is true. Grimes should have had twenty 3-pt attempts tonight.
Can we all agree at this point that selling “high” on Randle is a no-brainer? He is as mentally weak as he is physically strong and that is not gonna get better…
I’ve seen enough data on Randle, and I think we should sell high on him and retool our roster for next year. We simply cannot have another playoff performance like this from our supposed alpha dog.
Maybe you trade Randle and Mitch and go for KAT…
Darn! If Brunson had just a little bit of scoring help, just a little bit. We had these Heat team, but no other Knick could make a shot
You’re really going to let Randle off the hook like that, huh?
Narrative is gonna be the ankle. We’ll have to see if Leon believes it.
This is wishful thinking. Poor shooters have no place leading a good NBA team.
Respect to the Knicks for a great unexpected season! Brunson is amazing, so happy we have him. We need a legit all star next to him, someone mentally strong. Randle was a disgrace this post season. RJ showed up overall. Randle played ok 2x? We also need to add shooting to surround Brunson. Great season.
To be clear, the brave finish is almost is exclusively praise for Jalen Brunson.
Randle & Mitch didn’t show up.
Thibs & RJ would have been better off not showing up.
And Josh Hart did his best Ben Simmons impersonation.
But we’ve got Jalen Brunson, and honestly man that’s enough to make me feel very, very good about the shape this team is in.
Congrats, Donnie, on a hard-fought series win. We’ll get you next time.
Mikal Bridges is not going to be a Knick. Stop that fantasy.
Great season and they fought to the end, this team has a lot of heart but very little brain.
Now we need to add shooting and high BB-IQ.
We knew that Randle making the ASG and 3rd team All-NBA instead of Brunson was a colossal joke, tonight it was the litmus test.
Julius and RJ must be ashamed for today’s performances and at least one of them must absolutely go.
47 wins and a winning record in the playoffs, not bad for the former laughingstock of the league.
Hell of a season, proud of the boys.
Now sell high…
https://youtu.be/oHJVJ_MEyQI
On top of Brunson, I also have a lot of love for iHart in this series.
Great season, i think we can have a great future, if we make the right adjustments to the roster. I love this blog and, like KBA, i hope there’s no flame wars just because we’re sad to have lost the game (and the series). We’re all sad.
Without Brunson we lose this by 30 so I don’t care about that final play but it was not ideal.
Really other than JB and IHart who was great on defense no one really had much of a game I think. Josh was ok but Fournier would likely have been better on the three point line there.
Sign me up for three years of Josh though.
I’m down bad. But we have Jalen Brunson and that makes me more hopeful about the New York Knicks than I’ve ever been. We’ll all spill tons of virtual ink about potential moves in the months to come but god damn it I love that man.
I guess I’m rooting for Philly now to make the Finals?
Butler shot 7 for 22 and the Knicks still fucking lost.
I think the best angle to work would be the RJ package for OG Anunoby.
I’m going back to being optimistic in game threads next year. Reverse jinxing didn’t work!
I hate the Heat, and I can’t root for them, but if they win it all, then are we a bit better? 😉
I absolutely cannot root for the Celtics. So, Philly or Miami. Stinks either way.
Funny because that literally looks like what happened to Brunson on that last drive to the basket!
Luka – “so I could have had Jalen Brunson as my wingman and instead I’ve got Kyrie fucking Irving???”
Funny thing is we spent all season thinking that we just lack that superstar level guy and that’s actually the one thing we found out that we do have. I truly believe that about JB. Now it’s about the supporting cast. One of Randle or RJ has to go. We simply need better shooting on the floor.
GG friends. What a season.
During this series, I’ve kept thinking that it would’ve been worth it to sacrifice some regular season wins in order to keep Fournier in the mix as a rotation option. It would’ve kept our offense from being so predictable and easy to gum up.
You know, he still could have Brunson as his wingman!
🙂 🙂
Or rather, he could be Brunson’s wingman…cuz he’s OUR pilot!
Also thibs, what the hell was he thinking with that 2nd quarter lineup? We should have won that quarter by 10 …he decides to go for the no shot creation non shooting lineup , so f* stupid. That cost us the game
This sucks man, I have almost zero interest in watching the Yankees. I guess the Giants might be pretty good again but right now the team that by far gives me the most joy to watch are the Knicks and we have to wait 5 months for them to play again.
I think Thibs was trying to steal some rest for Brunson, but yeah I have no idea why he sat Randle too. Too clever by half. Ironic that we get so frustrated with Thibs for not being flexible and then he goes Y’ALL WATCH THIS and sends out the brick squad
AD is going to have 45 rebounds
Ouch. “The Miami Heat have more Eastern Conference Finals appearances than the Knicks have winning seasons since 2001.”
Mitch had a pretty bad series. Maybe he was hurt but he didn’t give much at all.
Brunson scored 41 points, the rest of the team combined scored 51. How can you win like this?
I said this before, and I will say it again: this series was lost on offense. Defense was never perfect, but it was good enough. Offense was awful for most of the series and most of these playoffs. Just awful. Miami exposed ALL our weaknesses. Brunson tonight scored 41 points facing three defenders all game because the Heat hardly cared about any other Knick scoring.
Mitch’s hip might be more serious than we thought. I think Miami also did a great job of boxing him out all series
Possible off-season:
Mavs pick goes to 11, we draft Taylor Hendricks or Gradey Dick. Trade Randle for KP or Kat. Trade Mitch for ???. Use the MLE on a shooter at the SF/PF—any shooter. Maybe Watanabe in BK. Trade RJ for OG if the price is right.
Salary dump Fournier and Rose. Re-sign Josh. Anything else?
Of course the first thing I see on “regular” TV is that AIR (the Nike/MJ movie) is now available for me to stream. Back to reality ….
Hell no on randle for KP. Randle is not trustworthy but I don’t hate the Knicks. Is he ever healthy? Does he contribute to winning?
Man that sucks.
The injury to IQ and lack of any shooters on the roster was a killer. Miami had skilled shooters rotating in and out while deploying the Hubie Brown full-court press.
KP was amazing for Washington this year and played 65 games. I don’t like the dude but he’s a clear upgrade over Randle when healthy and fits this team more. What’s the better option (other than maybe KAT)?
Build around Brunson, trade fucking everyone else. The guy fought with all he had and just was let down by his teammates big time.
I hate the Heat more than pretty much any other team so this feels very, very painful, but in a couple of days when I can manage to think properly about basketball again, I’ll acknowledge this was a great season and I’m overall happy with the whole thing. But now, fuck the Heat and I hope they get swept right away.
You make a compelling case Bruno but I don’t know who I am rooting against in the next round. Such a tough call.
I’ll pay an extra to have a player called Gradey Dick on my team…
KP is never coming back, not in a million years.
No way KAT ever survives being coached by Thibs either.
IQ injured meant we had no viable backup point and led to the Doom Lineup in the 2nd quarter. Can’t be understated.
Re: Which team to root for
Denver is our last hope.
We should really table this one. OG is so much better than RJ it’s not even funny. It’s like saying we should trade Randle for Durant.
Besides the Raptors only considered trading OG because they needed size.
Great fuckin’ year. Would have liked to see a shot go up when we were down 2 but if there’s one guy I can’t be mad at in that situation, it’s Brunson. Dude is for real. We’re not there yet, but he gives us championship potential. Gotta figure out a piece or two around him and keep growing, but there’s reason for genuine optimism.
I like Butler and Bam. Not so keen on the rest of that team, but I’ll take those guys over the Celtics or Sixers any day of the week. And I’ll take any of the western teams in the finals, though Denver is very much my jam.
Shame the Celtics didn’t bow out during the Tatum diarrhea festival last night – they might have panic traded somebody afterwards.
Resign Hart and extend IQ @ 16×4 each, look for some path to get better on the wing. Not sure there’s anybody worth dealing all the picks for this year, but keep the powder dry for the right move. I doubt we roll it back 100% but I wouldn’t be upset if they did. I enjoyed this season more than any in the past 20+ years.
(BTW, Josh Hart’s wife had twins today. Might explain a slight drop in focus this week?)
Nothing but abject foolishness led to that Doom Lineup.
It may behoove us to trade Randle before the All-NBA awards go positionless next season. This year might be his last time winning it.
We can debate the causality involved. The important thing is that it’s called the Doom Lineup.
Knicks need a prime Allan Houston.
Denver is my last hope for a team I would actively enjoy watching win a title, so I’m all in on Jokic now. I guess I could talk myself into the Lakers because I still enjoy watching LeBron, and I could somehow twist myself towards accepting a Sixers win because they haven’t won in so long, so I’m fully preparing for my personal nightmare Warriors – Celtics repeat finals, equal parts boring and annoying as fuck.
I’m sad to lose but it’s hard to be disappointed in our guys. They showed a lot of guts. They had a chance to roll over in the series and didn’t. They had a chance to roll over in this game and didn’t.
We were outcoached, outshot, and outmanned, and still had a chance to win in the final minute in Miami. That’s heart.
I’d happily root for the Heat over the Celtics. I don’t really hate this iteration of the Heat. They’re really annoying, but that’s because they’re well coached and relentless.
I know we’re bitching about that 2nd quarter lineup but Brunson had just picked up his 2nd foul and do you really think reinserting Randle who was God awful all game would’ve helped? Heck Obi played the majority of the 2nd quarter over Randle.
But yes, Denver >>>>>>>>>>>> anyone else in the playoffs still alive
Man just saw a clip of RJ during his post-game press conference, he was pretty emotional and down about the way he played.
https://twitter.com/KnicksMSGN/status/1657220924569968640?s=19
Can we trade RJ for Austin?
That moment when Lowry picked his pocket really hurt.
Hart was 5/10 for 10 for 11 points. He was one of 3 Knicks to hit half his shots from the field, and one of two who took more than 2 shots. Ben Simmons took 10 or more FGAs 3 times this season. clown comment bro. clown comment.
On paper, yeah. Otherwise where does the shot creation on the floor come from? We were running RJ isos and Deuce/Mitch PNRs. The chances of Randle waking up were better than RJ playing point guard.
That was a killer. If not for the flagrant foul this probably would have been the turning point in the game.
Melo in Game 6 at Indiana had 39 but at least Shump and JR helped him out a bit.
The Indiana loss was much worse for me because I thought that team had an outside chance to actually win the damn thing and also it was old and not coming back the next year. I thought this team was going to lose to Cleveland.
I still hate Roy Hibbert.
When do point guards get fouled out, this overreaction to 2 fouls in the 2nd q, is really dumb …and he put him back in the game. It was rest not foul trouble that thibs made that call for. Also let randle go against the bench … Over it, but still pissed at thibs
I remember at times a couple of years ago we were asking if Randle was better than prime Knicks Melo, I feel like we owe Melo an apology for even contemplating that question.
I think you have to trust Brunson and let him stay in the game.
Barring that, you just bring Grimes in instead of Deuce and let RJ handle the ball.
It wasn’t about Randle at all, IMO.
The really tricky judgments: Are guys like RJ, Grimes, Obi, IQ, even Mitch, likely to improve thanks to this, their first real playoff experience, or is it time to move on from some of them? Months to discuss. And, yes, I know there are well-informed, entrenched opinions on all sides. That’s the fun of it.
Jordan Poole 0 points 4 fouls in 12 minutes. .. he could have played for us tonight
Holy shit Austin Reeves wow
I think I am in love
AD is a bad man too
BBA your “Indiana vibes” call in game 1 was awesome. I mean, it fucking sucked. But it was very prescient.
I think whichever of our young guys doesn’t make a leap after these playoffs becomes expendable. If this experience doesn’t motivate them to reach new levels as players, then nothing will.
Almost an identical series except these Knicks at least put up a fight in Game 4, both Games 3 and 4 in Indiana were blowouts.
This doesn’t feel like Indiana series in terms of the aftermath. That team was a win-now group reliant on old veterans. Weren’t the Knicks the youngest team in the playoffs by mean age?
[puts on bullet proof vest]
A Jalen Brunson-Kyrie Irving backcourt would be pretty, pretty good, though.
I am sick and tired listening to imbeciles blaming Thibs for everything. Not counting Brunson, 3-point shooting was 20%, 5-25, and almost all of those shots were wide open! I am not even counting the many chances that Hart and and others were turning down. We have no shooters! This is the truth! Yes, no coach is perfect, and yes, Spoelstra is a great coach. Still, give Thibs another knockdown 3-point shooter and tell he doesn’t beat this Miami team! Thibs is not the reason we lost; Thibs is the reason we made it thus far.
Melo’s trade cost us a lot and his tenure didn’t end well, but his 2012-13 season (3rd in MVP vote, 2nd team All-NBA, 1st in PPG) was on another level…
Now I understand the nickname 😀
100 percent Doug, just comparing the way both series played out. Right down to Melo and Brunson almost single handedly pulling out Game 6 by themselves.
But I love this team way more, easily my favorite Knicks team since 2000. Although those 2013 Knicks were damn good but like DRed mentioned it was basically over for that group after Game 6 at Indiana, hopefully this is just the beginning for this Knicks team.
family time seems to have rescued me from a less than satisfying sporting experience…
god is good…
For sure Max, in terms of the actual acquisition Randle has been beyond what anybody could’ve expected. But Melo got alot of shit yet his first 3 and 1/2 seasons as a Knick he was really fucking good and had some great playoff games too.
As long as we don’t trade for Bargnani we should at least be decent next year with a good amount of upside
Yeah, the loss might feel the same but the circumstances of the team are far, far better now. More assets, younger core, younger role players, everything is positioned better for next season, so it feels much better to me at least.
Nonetheless, this series has shown that the front office absolutely must look into making moves for next season. Maybe give the young players the first half of the season to show if they grow from this, and move at the deadline, or something like that. But we need to surround Brunson with guys who will be able to help him in rough games like tonight.
Maybe you are right, but I want to go back and look at this. To me, whether it’s Thibs’s offense or the way Jalen, RJ, and Randle run things, my eye test says we get precious few sequences of good ball movement. In fact Miami seemed to be running a clinic in that regard by contrast.
Now I don’t want to start an argument on this hill (tonight), but the Knicks never seem to cut well or to swing the ball easily and elude double teams. The only *easy* passing we did during the season was for alley oops, and I don’t think we had even one tonight. Sure, all this is a combination of personnel and offensive philosophy, but let’s ask Thibs to look at that philosophy, yeah? I don’t think it’s just the shooters.
Agreed BBA.
Melo will forever pay the cost of his trade (I hated it), the boycott of Lin, his “fake non-max” contract and the sad end.
But he was someone other teams (and their fans) were worried about.
Does the 39% career shooter who has been in Thibs’ doghouse since December count?
NBA has had incredible TV ratings so far during this postseason but that will come crashing down if it gets a Nuggets Heat NBA Finals lol
This is exactly the point! And the answer is exactly the shooters, more precisely, 3-and-D players. And this is why Hubert’s “39% career shooter” being in the doghouse is not the answer. Fournier gives up on D more than he generates on O. The same can be said about Obi, who is not a bad shooter, and definitely better than Randle (Randle, by the way, though a bad defender, is given preference because of his bully-ball, as well as his occasional hot outside shooting. None of this was present in the playoffs and he deserves every bit of criticism he gets for that)
This offense, ugly as it is, is based on available personnel, it does generate enough looks, and can generate enough points.
Yes, ball movement could be better. Thibs always preaches that. “Trust the pass”. If Hart were a better and more decisive shooter, Brunson would have passed him the ball to him on that last play, instead of turning it over.
Spolstra showered JB with compliments in the postgame, classy move.
Miami’s full court press meant our team started their offense with 15 seconds left on the clock at best. Meaning Randle was shooting with one second left in bad position, over and over again.
Barrett was 1-10. Randle was 3-14 and clearly the ketamine was kicking in big time, he was pretty much comatose except when the ball hit his hands and he woke up enough to drive into traffic. If he stays he really needs to spend the summer working on his meds.
It was a great season, but not a great ending. Kind of amazing we were even close, it felt more like the Suns in their last game against Denver.
Suns weren’t up 31-17 in the 1st quarter.
“How is that dude not an All-Star or All-NBA?”
Someone said, imagine Brunson when he gets a superstar whistle — we’re watching that reputation get built in real time
Our offense this season was predicated on hunting for mismatches in isolation using screens and crashing the boards. I think that’s a function of our lack of shooting as anything else. I was just as jealous as any of you of how Miami produced so much by swinging the ball around the arc but I don’t think that was ever our play style. And it’s not like Thibs is a grab bag of different offensive looks.
Brunson almost beat them by himself tonight. I can’t get over that this game was there for the taking but nobody could make a damn shot.
Rough, I’m pretty sure you could read this whole thread and you won’t find any imbeciles blaming the series on Thibs. He just did something very stupid in the 2Q.
The Suns lost by 25 at home, the Warriors are losing by 20…
At least we did put up a fight and gave them a scare…
Jimmy Butler wasn’t an all star either. So the simple answer is that all star voters are dumb.
Heat v Celtics should be an interesting series worth watching.
Lakers are going to beat the Nuggets.
#7 seed Lakers vs #8 seed Heat in the finals is probably going to happen.
Strange year, but mostly entertaining.
Set the alarm clock
Never heard it
Slept till the game ended
Opened my cellphone to check what happened….Heat advanced notification!
Damnnnnn
Checked the final score:
Fuuuuuck!!! Close one
Read the kb thread
And planning to go watch the game after work such as giving one more spin to Joy Division ‘s Closer…
Ahhh…..