3 things the Knicks need to take control of playoff series in Miami
Following an ugly Game 2 victory, the New York Knicks are heading down to South Beach for their Game 3 matchup of the Eastern Conference semifinals with the Heat. If the Knicks can manage to take Miami down in this matchup, they very well could take a stranglehold on the series and be Conference Finals bound before we know it.
However, there are still factors that remain up in the air. We don’t know if Jimmy Butler will be playing or not. We don’t know how healthy Jalen Bruson and Julius Randle are after they went all out on their ankles in Game 2. We don’t know if head coach Tom Thibodeau is ready to handle the playoff stage on the road against an annual contender.
Assuming most of these things fall in their favor, they will have a realistic opportunity to take back the series in Miami
3 things the Knicks need to take control of playoff series in Miami
3. Defensive adjustments from Tom Thibodeau
Thus far, Thibs has put together a fairly solid defensive scheme to slow down the Heat. While a lot of it has relied on the team’s lack of talent (aside from Butler and Bam Adebayo), it has worked.
If Butler ends up playing, then Thibs continuing to run his trap-style defense should work well. While Butler wasn’t bad by any means in Game 1, he was rather tame compared to the historic first-round series he had against the Bucks. In Game 1, Butler dropped 25 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists while shooting 8-16 from the field and 0-1 from deep.
This is a good game from Butler, don’t get us wrong, but you can clearly tell that the trap defense slowed him down compared to what he was doing just a week prior.
However, if Butler is going to miss Game 3, then it might be better to settle down into more of a traditional defensive scheme. While the trap defense worked in Game 2, it was a closer contest than it probably should have been.
In the first half, the Heat shot 38.5% from three on 26 attempts. However, they very quickly cooled down in the second half, hitting just seven of their 23 attempts.
While relying on the Heat to miss open threes could work, it’s rarely sustainable, especially considering how elite of a 3-point shooting team the Heat were in the first round. If they manage to stay hot for an entire game, New York could be in big trouble.
How Thibodeau handles this is very important. While continuing to run the same defense could work, the Knicks may be in a much better position if Thibs opts to change things up depending on Butler’s status.