NCAA Tournament, Knicks, Nets, Rose

Knicks Improve Perimeter Shooting, Tie Series At 1-1

Following a difficult Game One loss, the Knicks bounced back in Game Two against a Jimmy Butler-less Miami Heat to win 111-105. The shorthanded Heat held the lead for a majority of the game, but New York executed far better in the fourth quarter this game, paving the way for the victory.

Knicks' Shooting Improves

One of the biggest, if not the biggest factor, in the Knicks coming up short in Game One was the inability to hit threes. New York shot 7-34 in game one, on shots that for the most part were open looks. Jalen Brunson in particular struggled, as he was 0-7 from behind the three-point line.

Game Two was a far different story for New York. As a team, they shot 40 percent (16-40) from three. And after struggling the way he did Game One, Brunson was the best shooter for New York in Game Two as he shot 6-10 from three to help towards his magnificent 30-point performance.

RJ Barrett also stepped up his shooting in a big way as he shot 5-9 from the three-point line in Game Two as opposed to 1-5 in Game One. Josh Hart shot 2-4 from the three-point line in game two after not making a single one of his four attempts in Game One.

One of the reasons for the better shooting was that Julius Randle returned to the lineup. Although Randle himself only shot 3-9 from three, his presence on the floor opened up more shots for teammates. He had eight assists this game, with most of them coming in the second half as he began to dissect the Heat defense at a far higher level.

Attacking The Heat Zone Defense

The Heat did not play much of their patented zone defense in Game One, however Game Two went far differently. This difference is primarily because Randle was back for the Knicks, and the Heat were aware of Randle's ability to isolate offensively. The zone defense the Heat play forces teams to move the ball rather than rely on one on one matchups, which makes it a much more difficult defense for this New York team to face as they rely heavily on isolation.

For most of the second quarter, the Heat ran a 3-2 zone which gave New York some issues. It was by far their worst quarter of the game as they only scored 20 points on 5-19 shooting from the field and only 2-10 from three. New York also had a mere three assists in the quarter, as the ball was sticking far too much, which led to many difficult shot attempts.

Only four Knicks players shot the ball the entire quarter. Randle accounted for the most shots with six, which ended up being at least four more shot attempts than any of his teammates. He led scoring that quarter with eight points, but only on 2-6 shooting.

New York gave Miami exactly what they wanted out of the zone this quarter, as the Knicks were stubborn offensively. In the third quarter, New York did a better job of moving the ball around to beat the zone, but they executed exceptionally well in the fourth quarter. This was in large part due to Randle making the necessary adjustments to his playstyle to better attack the Heat zone.

In the fourth quarter, the Knicks scored a whopping 35 points compared to 28 for the Heat. New York shot 11-21 from the field, 4-9 from three and 9-12 from the free throw line. Out of all of those shot attempts, Randle did not account for a single one. Randle was 0-0 from the field that quarter with his only two points coming from the free throw line.

Although he did not attempt a shot the entire quarter, Randle impacted the game exactly how the Knicks needed him to. He continually made the right play via the pass. Brunson and Hart each had 10 points in the fourth quarter, with both going 2-3 from three. Randle assisted three of these four three-point makes from Brunson and Hart. Although the box score would not tell it this way, the way Randle played in the fourth quarter was an enormous part in the Knicks winning this game.

For New York to continue this success against the zone, they must stay committed to moving the ball as a team. There is no doubt Miami will continue to run a lot of zone this series, and that zone will only get better once Jimmy Butler returns to the lineup this Saturday for game three in Miami.