Knicks Beat the Heat Via Incredible Comeback
This Knicks team, man. They hang on. And they fight and scratch and claw and don't quit. And, pretty damn often, they win.
Final Score: Knicks 100 - Heat 98
Record: 9-6
In my post following the Knicks' loss in Minnesota on Monday, I noted it was discouraging that New York was 1-5 against teams with winning records and had not yet registered a "signature" win this season.
Welp, that's no longer the case.
In the best victory of the young season, the Knicks fell behind by 21 points in the second half Friday night before mounting a furious comeback in the fourth quarter to beat the Heat (who entered the evening tied for the #2 seed in the East) at MSG. Immanuel Quickley sparked the rally, while Jalen "The Prince That Was Promised" Brunson and RJ Barrett carried the club home.
However, I want to start here:
Miami was up 83-62 with 3:30 remaining in the third quarter when Jaime Jaquez stole the ball from New York in the paint and pitched it forward to Haywood Highsmith, who was streaking out into the open floor. It looked like Highsmith was cruising in for an easy bucket, which would have put the Heat up 23 points - until Isaiah Hartenstein came sprinting in from halfcourt to meet Highsmith at the rim.
Hartenstein blocked the dunk attempt, and the rebound caromed to Josh Hart, who pushed the ball ahead to Quickley, who drained a pull-up three-pointer. It was a critical five-point swing. Instead of being down 23, the Knicks were down by 18, and the comeback was on.
From that moment forward, over the final 15 minutes and 30 seconds of game action, New York outscored Miami 38 to 15.
Hartenstein was on the floor the entire time, and despite not attempting a single shot and grabbing just one rebound, he most certainly made his presence felt. Ditto for Josh Hart, who didn't post eye-popping numbers but was instrumental in the second-half turnaround. His ability to grab boards and immediately push the ball up the floor was instrumental in helping New York get easy baskets in transition, which is crucial against this Heat team.
IQ was the leading scorer during this 15+ minute stretch, pouring in 14 points. In fact, he made more FGs (5) than the entire Heat team combined (4-for-27). Quickley nailed four three-pointers, each one ratcheting up the momentum.
Speaking with reporters after the game, Kyle Lowry credited IQ's "aggressiveness and assertiveness" with shifting the momentum in the contest. "Quickley came in and really changed the game," said Lowry.
And then, with six minutes left in regulation, after New York had whittled the lead down to single digits, Thibs went to the bullpen and called in his closer, the "Mariano of MSG." Jalen Brunson scored eight points in the final five minutes, shooting 3-of-4 from the floor.
JB's 20-foot step-back jumper over Jaquez with less than 90 seconds left was a thing of beauty, giving the Knicks a 99-96 lead. Barrett also scored eight points in the final five minutes of regulation, cashing in several big buckets. His right-handed driving lay-up over Bam Adebayo at the two-minute mark was the highlight of the season in what has been a breakout campaign for young RJ.
And, of course, the Knicks wouldn't have registered the incredible victory if they hadn't been able to get stops. Butler scored just two points on 0-of-5 shooting in the final frame. Jimmy Buckets missed some makeable shots, but Barrett played consistently solid defense, challenging Butler with a hand in his face. On the night (per NBA tracking data), Butler failed to score (0-for-6 shooting) and had zero assists when Barrett was his primary defender. Butler scored 23 points on 7-for-8 shooting when matched up against non-RJ Knicks last night.
Bam was just 1-of-6 from the floor in the fourth, as iHart gave him all he could handle. With 45 seconds left in a one-possession game, Lowry fed a cutting Adebayo the ball just inside the free-throw stripe with a full head of steam. Bam took a power/gather step and rose for a dunk. Hartenstein, who had sprinted down the floor to help stop Lowry's drive, turned around and challenged Bam at the bucket. Plenty of other NBA centers would have made a "business decision." in that situation, fearful of getting posterized and being the butt of jokes on social media. Not iHart. He forced Bam to miss, and the Knicks hung on.
This Knicks team, man.
They hang on. And they fight and scratch and claw and don't quit. And, pretty damn often, they win.
"They hit us pretty hard to start the third," Thibodeau said after the game. "But we hit them back."
We hear plenty about "Heat Culture," but this Knicks team has developed an impressive culture of their own. Credit to Thibs, RJ, Randle, IQ, Hart Mitch Rob and iHart - and, most importantly - Jalen Brunson. The shift in the franchise can be linked directly to the day they added JB.
Other Takeaways and Knicks Notes:
🏀 As you undoubtedly noticed, I didn't mention Mr. Randle when recapping New York's spirited comeback. And that's because he was on the bench for most of it. Randle finished with his typically solid assortment of counting stats (13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists - most of which came in the first half). However, he was just 5-of-12 from the floor and committed a game-high six turnovers (2x more than any other player in the contest).
This was the type of inefficient production we saw from Randle in the second-round series vs. Miami last spring. Coach Spo and the Heat have developed a successful game plan against New York. They hound Brunson 94 feet with pesky, lengthy defenders, making his life difficult. They sick Butler on Barrett. And they force Randle to beat them by making smart decisions with the basketball. More often than not, it works.
It's not a shocking coincidence that the Knicks made their run with Randle riding the pine. He logged just three minutes in the fourth quarter and didn't attempt a single shot.
And, as we saw during the postseason, Randle's body language and effort tend to wane when he is struggling and/or frustrated on the defensive end.
Take another look at the iHart block video clip posted above. Randle is ahead of Hartenstein when the Heat gain control of the basketball. But iHart turns and sprints down the floor while Randle lazily jogs back on defense.
🏀 Quentin Grimes also struggled mightily on Friday night. He was just 1-of-4 from the floor and didn't grab a single rebound. QG still has yet to make a free throw this season, and we're already past Thanksgiving. He was -20 in his 21 minutes in a game the Knicks won. Not great.
🏀 In contrast, IQ was +22 in his 26 minutes of action. Quickley's agents have a lot to be thankful for! That dude is gonna get paid…
🏀 Brunson appeared to be favoring his right shoulder after falling to the ground on an And-1 late in the fourth quarter but downplayed the injury after the game. "It hurt," Brunson said. "But I'm fine."
🏀 With ten minutes remaining in the game, the Heat had a 99.5% Win Probability, according to ESPN analytics.
🏀 Jimmy Butler on his last-second mis: "I thought that was going in, I'm always looking for the win," Butler said. "Myself, and everybody else is riding with me. We're going to live with the result, but I guarantee I'm going to make the next one."
🏀 With the victory over Miami, the Knicks are now 2-1 in In-Season Tournament play. Their fourth and final IST group-stage game is Tuesday vs. the Hornets. New York can win Group B and advance to the quarterfinals if:
* They beat Charlotte on Tuesday,
* The Heat beat the Bucks on Tuesday, and
* The Knicks finish with a better point differential than the Heat and Bucks.
New York is currently +18. The Bucks are +39, and the Heat are +11. The Knicks can also secure a wild-card spot in the quarterfinals if they beat the Hornets and have the best point differential of three teams that finish second in the three Eastern Conference groups.
🏀 Next Up: Before that IST matchup with Charlotte, the Knicks host the Suns on Sunday at The Garden (6:00 pm EST tip).
Phoenix demolished the Grizzlies on Friday for their sixth straight win, improving to 10-6 on the season. And they actually have a better record on the road (6-2) than at home. However, Kevin Durant was unable to suit up vs. Memphis due to right foot soreness. It was the first game he missed this season. Durant is averaging 31.4 points on 53.3% shooting, 7.1 rebounds and 5.5 assists. Per AZCentral, "Durant was experiencing soreness Thursday as the Suns flew from Phoenix to Memphis, had it looked at later that night, and the Suns determined he'd sit out Friday's game. Suns coach Frank Vogel said he hopes this is a game-to-game or day-to-day deal."
The Suns are still without Bradley Beal (back) and were also missing Drew Eubanks (ankle), Yuta Watanabe (quad) and Damion Lee (knee) on Friday.