After Jalen Brunson saved the Knicks season in Game Five, his heroics were not enough in Game Six. Brunson scored a whopping 41 of the New York 92, but he did not get enough support from the rest of the team. The Heat moved on to the Eastern Conference Finals behind a final score of 96-92.
Brunson Gives Knicks A Chance
There is no doubt that Jalen Brunson gave the Knicks everything he had in the now final game of the season. Brunson scored 41 points on 14-22 from the field, 5-10 from three and 8-9 from the free throw line. The Heat held a lead for the majority of the second half, but it felt like every time the Heat were on the brink of pulling away, Brunson answered.
This final game encapsulated Brunson's entire playoff performance. Brunson truly carried New York these past two series as he averaged 27.8 points on 47.4 percent shooting along with 5.6 assists and 4.9 rebounds. However, this game was also the extreme of a trend that had been getting worse as this series went on. Outside of Brunson, New York could not find consistency on offense.
Of course, that starts with the counterpart of the Knicks' star duo in Julius Randle. He once again really struggled to hit shots, as he had 15 points on a mere 3-14 from the field, 1-7 from three and 8-9 from the free throw line. His playoffs stats closed at 16.6 points on only 37.4 percent shooting, 8.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists. Bam Adebayo deserves a ton of credit for the job he did throughout the series on Randle, however Randle simply has to be better even against these difficult matchups.
Although he has played a magnificent series up to Game Six, RJ Barrett had by far his worst performance in this must win game. Barrett scored 11 points, but nine of that total came from the free throw line. He only scored two points from the field as he shot an abysmal 1-10 from the field and 0-3 from three. Quentin Grimes played elite defense on Jimmy Butler, however he could not hit shots consistently as he was 1-6 from three.
Over these past few games, the impact of losing Immanuel Quickley has become more and more evident. Even though he had struggled prior to the injury, he is the only shot creator outside of the Brunson, Barrett and Randle trio. With the struggles Randle has had this series, a scoring punch from the bench was desperately missing. Josh Hart scored 11 on 5-10 shooting off the bench, however he does not open up the offense the same way Quickley does.
What Comes Next?
This loss will sting for a while, in part because the Heat came into this series as the eight seed. That mindset is a bit silly though, as this Heat team is clearly not a normal eight seed. They dominated the Bucks in the first round who had the best record in the entire NBA, and if the Knicks had lost to the Bucks this round, the season would be looked upon much differently.
The biggest talking point that will come out of this series is the future of Julius Randle. He has now underperformed severely in his two playoff runs as a member of the Knicks. Concerns about his ability to perform in these higher stakes are legitimate. A lot of his issues this playoff run seem to come from a difficulty adjusting to playoff defense.
All season long, the Knicks have relied heavily on isolation ball from Brunson and Randle. Isolating at that rate can work in the regular season, however against playoff intensity on defense, and one of the best defenders in the league in Adebayo, that play style is far more difficult. Randle clearly prefers his shots to come off the dribble, but in the playoffs he must be willing to shoot the ball off the catch more often. In many cases he passed up on solid looks off the catch, but was subsequently forced into a far more challenging shot.
Although Randle deserves some blame for his shortcomings this series, this Knicks unit has a real deficiency in three point shooting and spacing. This was no more evident than in the play that ended the Knicks season.
Before Brunson turned the ball over on the final possession, he had a chance to kick the ball out to a wide open Hart for three. It seemed that Brunson saw him, but still decided to turn back into the paint to look for another option. This may have been a mental lapse from Brunson, but it could also be Brunson not trusting Hart's ability from three. Hart provides a lot of value to New York, but three-point shooting is not one of his strengths.
This Knicks team is severely lacking an elite three-point shooting option. As a result, Erik Spoelstra was able to tighten up the court, especially for Randle. So before fans start calling for a trade of Randle, this group deserves a chance to be optimized as much as possible.
This was only the first season of the Jalen Brunson era in New York. There are still plenty of ways to improve this current core to give them the best chance possible of winning down the line. Now is not the time to hit the panic button, rather enjoy this season for what it was, and have belief in the future of this team.
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- Knicks lose Julius Randle for remainder of season as playoffs approach - April 6, 2024
- Knicks Launch into 3rd-Seed in the East With Ten Games Left - March 28, 2024
