3 Stats that are largely responsible for Knicks’ struggles against Heat
1. 27.2% Three-Point Percentage as a team
The Knicks have been a pretty mediocre three-point shooting team all year, ranking 19th in the NBA while shooting 35.4% from deep. However, in this playoff series, the team has reached an all-time low and it has cost them in a big way.
To make things worse, New York has increased its three-point attempts every game against the Heat and it has been aggravating to watch. While the Heat’s paint-packing defense has, in a way, forced New York to shoot so many threes, they have the slashing ability to at least try and work around it as opposed to settling for so many jump shots.
With all due respect, there is no reason for the Knicks to be taking 38.0 three-point attempts per game in this series. This ranks fourth amongst all teams left in the playoffs and considering their percentage of threes made ranks second-to-last, Thibodeau needs to change his offensive game plan.
Heading into Game 4, the Knicks cannot continue to settle for so many jump shots. There is far too much offensive versatility on this team for them to be taking that many threes each game. We hope to see improvement from New York as the series progresses, however, these three stats are not a good indicator of how things could go.
