![]() ![]() With Martin late to make the switch, Brunson got a comfortable look at a pull-up 3 and put the Knicks up for good: But with the score tied and a little more than four minutes left, Caleb Martin was caught off guard when Hartenstein quickly flipped a screen on Vincent. ![]() The Heat’s zone usually started out as a 1-1-3 configuration, so that the back guard (the second ‘1’) could switch an initial ball screen set on the front guard. While screens aren’t the first thing you think about in regard to zone offense, it was a Hartenstein ball screen that freed up Brunson for his second fourth-quarter 3. “I think at the end of the game,” Hartenstein said, “we started to figure it out more, screening angles, flipping the screen.” With Adebayo fouling Isaiah Hartenstein as Brunson rose for his shot, that turned into a critical 4-point play. Hart kicked it to Randle at the top of the floor, Lowry rotated up, and Brunson got a wide-open 3 in the corner: Brunson hit two huge 3s in the fourth quarter and both of them came against the Miami zone.įirst, Hart got to the left baseline, with Kyle Lowry (like Vincent in the man-to-man possession above) guarding two guys on the weak side. They found seams in the zone and got open shots when they quickly moved the ball from one side of the floor to the other. At times, the Knicks tried to force their way into the paint and came up empty.īut ultimately, this was the Knicks’ most efficient offensive game of the playoffs (111 points on 91 possessions). It slowed the pace down (Game 2 was tied for the slowest-paced game of the playoffs) and made this game a bit of a grind. And on Tuesday, they played more zone than they had played through their first six playoff games.įor the most part, it worked. In the regular season, the Heat played more zone than any team in the 19 years of Synergy tracking. And after the Knicks scored 31 points on 23 possessions in those opening 12 minutes, Miami switched to zone and, basically, stayed in it for the rest of the game. That was man-to-man defense, which the Heat played for most of the first quarter. “I love the way was attacking and then reading the game.” “The game will tell you what to do,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said afterward. But he was drawn deeper into the paint when Josh Hart dove to the rim, leaving Barrett wide open on the right wing, where Randle hit him with a sharp skip pass: Gabe Vincent was on the weak side of the floor guarding two Knicks. Two minutes later, Bam Adebayo came quickly with a double-team when Randle posted up Max Strus. The Heat actually doubled Randle on the very first play of the game, but when he got rid of the ball, RJ Barrett missed an open 3. The Heat didn’t seem interested in testing if he could beat guys one-on-one, double-teaming Randle early. The eight assists were tied for the third most that Randle has had this season, and he was a playmaker from the start. Randle finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Brunson led all scorers with 30 points, shooting 6-for-10 from 3-point range after going 0-for-7 from beyond the arc in Game 1. But both of the Knicks’ stars were in the lineup on Tuesday, and they both played well. Randle missed Game 1 with the ankle injury he re-aggravated in the first round, while Brunson’s status (ankle soreness) was a little bit of a surprise. Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle were both initially listed as questionable for this game. Here are some notes, numbers and film on what was a very different game than the one that preceded it. But they got what they needed, evening the series with a 111-105 victory at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. They lost Game 1 at home on Sunday and their opponent – the Miami Heat – was now missing its best player.ĭespite the absence of Jimmy Butler (who sprained his ankle in the fourth quarter of Game 1), it was a bit of a struggle for the Knicks, who trailed by six points with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter. NEW YORK - No non-elimination game is an absolute “must-win” situation, but Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals was about as close as it gets for the New York Knicks. Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Julius Randle all step up late in Game 2 to top the injury-depleted Heat 111-105 and tie the series 1-1. ![]()
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