Following a crucial Game Two victory, the Knicks came out flat in Game Three. High level defense from the Heat lead to dreadful shooting from New York, as the Heat took game three by a score of 106-85.
Knicks' Inconsistent Shooting
Three-point shooting has been a defining factor for the Knicks so far this series, and that trend continued in Game Three. In the Game One loss, New York shot 7-34, while in the Game Two victory they shot 16-40. However, in the Game Three loss New York only shot 8-40 from three.
The star duo of Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle each went 0-5 from behind the arc, while RJ Barrett went 2-7 and Immanuel Quickley went 2-8. There were certainly some open misses, however the Heat defense turned up a notch with the return of Jimmy Butler.
Without Butler in Game Two, the Heat resorted to a lot of zone defense to make up for missing their best individual defender. Now that Butler is back, Miami played much more man to man defense. Butler rotated between Brunson and Barrett, while Adebayo defended Randle for the majority of his minutes.
This change from zone also allowed the Heat to be far more aggressive on screens, as Brunson in particular would be blitzed off of numerous screens. It seemed like New York was not ready for this switch up defensively by the Heat, as throughout the game many shots had to be forced up through tight defense.
Brunson, Barrett, and Randle each shot 35 percent or under. Brunson shot 7-20, Barrett shot 5-16, and Randle shot 4-15. To hold the three best players on a team to this poor of shooting is incredibly impressive from the Miami defense.
For the Knicks to avoid this type of offensive performance again, they must be far more decisive. Too many possessions ended in difficult shots as a result of stagnant offense. Ball movement is the key to beating this Miami defense with Butler back in the lineup.
Defending Without Fouling
Of course, Butler being back in the lineup for the Heat also meant their best offensive player is also back. He continued his incredible postseason run with 28 points on 9-21 from the field and 10-11 from the free throw line.
Free throws were an enormous part for the Heat offense. As a team, they shot an incredibly efficient 28-31 from the free throw line. Miami only shot 38.9 percent from the field and 21.9 percent from the three point line. The free throws ended up being a huge factor to make up for the poor shooting.
From the Knicks' defensive perspective, they need to do a far better job of defending without fouling. Arguably the best part of Butler's game is getting to the free throw line, as he is incredibly crafty in the paint and understands how to get his defender up in the air.
Mitchell Robinson picked up four fouls in only 14 minutes, as he got caught a few times by Butler in the paint. Robinson especially needs to stay disciplined when Butler is in the paint. His height makes it that he can contest a Butler layup without jumping. Robinson must be able to live with Butler making a tough layup rather than giving him free throws.
Outside of Butler, seven Heat players attempted at least one free throw. The Heat had the second highest free throw percentage of any team in the league this year, so it will be imperative for the rest of this series that New York limits Miami free throw attempts.
With Game Four coming on Monday in Miami, the Knicks will not have as much time to make adjustments as they had for Game Three. Game Four is crucial for the Knicks, as they cannot afford to go down 3-1 this series.
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