With Jalen Brunson & Julius Randle in the fold & Jimmy Butler out, the Knicks held off the Heat to even the series

There are three kinds of New York Knicks fans waking up this morning: 

1. “The sky is falling!”

2. “We’ve got the Miami Heat right where we want them.”

3. “A win is a win is a win.”

Because despite the Heat being down their 35-points-per-playoff-game scorer in Jimmy Butler and Julius Randle back on the floor, it took a larger-than-life effort from the Knicks to secure a Game 2 victory.

The sky is falling!

“Did a (seemingly) fully healthy New York team just nearly squander a home playoff game against a Miami starting five of Gabe Vincent, Caleb Martin, Kevin Love, Max Strus and Bam Adebayo? For all of the talk of Jalen Brunson being a deserved All-NBA candidate and snubbed All-Star, and all the praise for Julius Randle’s resurgence, this is the best they could do? Pack it up and load up the trade machine. We’re just not there yet.”

We’ve got the Miami Heat right where we want them 

“Man oh man. If the Heat think this shit is sweet, do they have a surprise coming. No team has ever needed a three-day weekend more than these Knicks. Brunson and Randle coming back at closer to 100% for Game 3, with RJ Barrett in peak form and both Immanuel Quickley and Quentin Grimes having more practice time to find their shooting strokes? It’s a wrap. Knicks in 6.”

A win is a win is a win

“Look, this is the playoffs. Every game is must-win. It doesn’t matter how you get there, only that you get there. Miami being a more disciplined locker room isn’t news. Nothing about their efforts yesterday should surprise anyone. Nonetheless, New York won. This series is back to even and the Knicks live to fight another day. In the postseason, that’s the only metric for success. Whether or not you’re still alive, awake, and in the fight.”

Notes

• Somehow, there’s still not enough being said about RJ Barrett’s performance in these playoffs. He’s averaging 19.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.1 steals across seven appearances on a 45/31/70 shooting split. In both games against Miami he’s helped to set the tone early, tallying 11 and 16 first-quarter points, respectively. 

• This series will likely be won on the perimeter, with the Heat being a top-three team in all 3-point numbers this postseason and the Knicks being bottom-three. Game 3 would be a great time for Grimes to find his shot. It feels worth noting that Josh Hart essentially won this game single-handedly with two late threes from the same corner with just over a minute to go.

• Expect that Butler plays Saturday. He was notably walking without a limp on his way into Madison Square Garden for Game 2, and with the series tied, neither he or Erik Spoelstra will want to roll the dice on their reserves another night. 

• When’s the last time New York had three guys tally 20 or more points in a playoff game? I’m struggling to find a concrete answer, but among the final tally are the 1970 team, who had Bill Bradley, Dick Barnett and Willis Reed all score 20 or more in a Game 5 win over the Milwaukee Bucks to punch their ticket to the NBA Finals. 

• Ironically enough, they could probably have four, if Quickley weren’t amidst a generational slump right now. The third-year guard is shooting just 35% from the field and 24% from the 3-point line, making him – in Tom Thibodeau’s mind – unplayable during key stretches. His nine minutes of playing time are his lowest mark since an October win over the Boston Celtics in 2021.

• Speaking of poorly performing draft picks, Obi Toppin’s Game 2 should be deleted from the memory of everyone subjected to it. He fired 3-pointers from his hip like Stephen Curry and made day-late rotations on defense, one of which lead to an unnecessary foul. His minutes moving forward are officially in jeopardy with Randle on the mend and Thibs willing to go small with Hart at the four. 

• Somehow, we’re four years into the Randle era and still learning more about him as an individual and a player. He told reporters after Game 2 that “it was hell” to get his body prepared for a return to the floor. But whatever he did worked, as he finished with his best postseason performance to date: 25 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists in a 2023 playoff-high 37 minutes of action. His return, whether 100% or not, bodes well for New York’s ability to keep up with a Butler-led offense.

• Hart and RJ simply can’t be on the floor together in this series; to add Mitchell Robinson is to wave the white flag. With the way the Heat move the ball and rarely turn it over, the intangibles that made Hart such a hero in the regular season and round one lean more on the side of weakness. Play him off the bench with Quickley and others and let him be the Randle-lite of that group. 

• That being said, I’ve got a hard time seeing Thibodeau making a starting lineup change after a win. Hopefully, everyone is viewing Grimes’ last two games as a de facto rehab assignment and he’s cleared for starting action in Game 3. 

• Brunson’s three-pointer to give the Knicks a 99-96 lead in the fourth quarter was a peak playoff moment. It will be clustered with so many that came before it in the highlight reels and record books, especially if New York goes on to win this series. 12 hours later and I still can’t watch it without feeling that euphoric embrace that only sports can provide. It had everything; Carmelo Anthony celebrating courtside, John Starks fist-pumping, the MSG crowd doing what they do best, and most importantly: it was a winning play. That gave Brunson 28 on the night; he’d go on to finish with 30, the most by any Knick in a playoff game since Melo.

• Shoutout to Isaiah Hartenstein. That man was 7-foot Matthew Dellavadova in this one.  (Ed. note: In a good way!)

I find myself relating with the third fan’s mentality more and more as the morning goes on. Last night sucked; no one is arguing that. Now everyone is headed home to get some much needed rest, with three days until their matchup in South Beach. But this is the playoffs. If you win a game, no one can take that from you; not the Miami fans, nor your peers within the New York fanbase. Hell, not even Scott Foster has any interest. Following a night from hell against a premiere rival, it’s safe to say the New York Knicks’ fanbase, just like this series, is split.