Back to the drawing board after a Game 1 loss

One of the pleasures of aging is learning words in other languages for meanings that don’t exist in your own. Japanese has “komorebi,” the light streaming through the foliage, and “irusu,” meaning to pretend not to be at home. There’s also “tsundoku,” meaning to pile up many books without reading them. The New York Knicks dropped game one of their second-round series to the visiting Miami Heat 108-101, meaning the Knicks better be extremely present at home in game 2 or they could end up home for the summer.

The eye of the storm was the first half, which the Knicks led throughout and which saw their offense back in regular-season form, despite Jalen Brunson missing six of his first seven shots. At the half the Knicks were only up five; it felt like they should’ve been up closer to 10. Against the Cavaliers, once the Knicks went up 10 or so that was pretty much the ballgame. As it turns out, the Heat are not the Cavaliers. You didn’t see this a lot from Cleveland’s bigs.

Love – a Cav until they waived him two months ago, fancy that – helped swing the game the road team’s way with a virtuoso performance; he’s the first big with at least five rebounds, four assists and two threes in a game against the Knicks in five weeks (Paolo Banchero). Everywhere Love made a difference made the difference for Miami: offensive rebounds were nearly even and the Heat won the turnover battle, keeping total shot attempts even, two areas New York dominated against Cleveland; ball movement helped four Heat hit four or more 3-pointers, something only Obi did for the Knicks; and the Heat’s perimeter proliferation (17 3-point attempts in the first quarter!) paid off even though they shot poorly from deep – after the Cavs scored 27+ in a quarter twice over their five-game series, the Heat did so three times Sunday.    

The last time the Knicks lost in these playoffs, the only other time, they responded. Tom Thibodeau’s basketball library is pile upon pile of books, but those books aren’t just read, they’re re-read, dog-eared, tattered and torn. One subject to brush up on: the 3-pointer. After shooting 35% from deep this season, the Knicks made 28% against the Cavs and only 21% against the Heat; take away Toppin’s four of 11 and their mark falls to 13%. The Heat are a tougher playoff defense than what the Knicks saw last round, but they weren’t just missing shots the defense wanted them taking. A number of doomed longballs came from good homes, seemed set up for future success. Twas not to be, chérie.  

Of greater concern going forward than the disparity in accuracy may be the one in volume. Miami carpetbombs from deep: they’re fine shooting 33% again if it means nearly doubling up New York’s total threes again. Brunson, Toppin, RJ Barrett and Josh Hart combined to make nearly two-thirds of their 2-pointers, but that group was only 5 of 27 from distance. The Knicks don’t just need to shoot better, they need to shoot smarter, or at least adjust the maths until they’re not fighting the Heat and the odds.

Maybe the easiest path to changing the shot disparities is to give the Heat fewer shots by giving them less of the ball. The Knicks were outscored 22-8 off turnovers, only two more points than Gabe Vincent himself scored off New York foibles.

The Heat are not the Cavs. Eris Spoelstra pro’ly made more adjustments at the half of this game than J.B. Bickerstaff did all of last series. Playoff Jimmy Butler is on another level than any Cavalier, including Donovan Mitchell, whose playoff credentials include some honors, and that was before Butler badly rolled his ankle late in the fourth and somehow stayed in the game the decisive next few minutes. They say a series doesn’t start until the home team loses. For the first time this postseason, the Knicks are down in a series. For the hundredth time this season, they’ve taken a punch. The last 99 times, they got back up and won the fight. They can’t win the series Tuesday, but they can let the Heat know it’s only just begun.