With homecourt advantage on their side after the Heat upset the Bucks in round one, the New York Knicks couldn’t get anything going in the second half of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Heat made the necessary adjustments at halftime and were able to restrict Jalen Brunson.
He finished with 25 points (11-of-23), but shot 0-of-7 from three and committed five turnovers, nearly half the number of turnovers he had in New York’s first-round series (12). Brunson wasn’t the only one that couldn’t hit a shot from deep, as the team shot 7-of-34 (20.6%) from three.
Miami protected the paint in the second half after New York shot 3-of-16 from three in the first half. The Knicks made only four three-pointers in the second half. Still, Tom Thibodeau wasn’t able to outsmart Erik Spoelstra to give the momentum back to the Knicks, not even after Jimmy Butler was injured in the fourth quarter and played on one leg for the remaining five minutes.
Brunson isn’t at fault for that, and the truth is that he wasn’t the reason why New York lost the game, but he still blamed himself.
"There were key moments in the game where you need to finish strong and be strong, and that starts with me. Today I was horrific. Very uncharacteristic of me and this one is on me. I got to get better"
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 30, 2023
- Jalen Brunson on what separated Miami from them today pic.twitter.com/1BoR97fLDg
Knicks’ Jalen Brunson blames himself for ‘horrific’ play after Game 1 loss to Heat
Jalen Brunson isn’t the type to blame anything on anyone but himself, but it’s still reasonable to assume that if a healthy Julius Randle were playing, he would’ve made a difference. His presence would’ve taken some of the offensive pressure off of Brunson. However, none of that matters to Brunson. He was rightfully worried only about what was in his control.
The point guard outplayed Donovan Mitchell in round one and was the best player on the floor for either team. There were stints where his shot wasn’t falling, but his play down the stretch was huge in helping the Knicks win their first playoff series in 10 years.
If there’s one thing about Brunson, it’s that he means what he says. He wasn’t “very horrific” in Game 1, but he was off. He knows what adjustments he needs to make for Game 2 and based on his track record, Brunson’s going to come out as a different player on Tuesday.
Remember, it was just one game. A series isn’t defined by one game, and Jalen Brunson knows that.
Knicks: Tom Thibodeau’s flaws on display after being outcoached by Erik Spoelstra
Out of everything that happened in Game 1 of the Knicks-Heat series, one thing that stuck out the most was the difference in coaching between the two teams.