2023 East Semifinals | (5) New York Knicks VS (8) Miami Heat (MIA leads 3-2)

[Wolfgang630]

We gotta see how Jimmy is gonna look on Saturday with his foot before I can give a better idea on how the series will go. Because right now it feels like a toss up

[cgf]

On the one hand, I'm glad for the extra rest when half the rotation is banged up and Thibs has had to lean heavier on some guys because of IQ & Grimes' struggles. On the other, I hate this wait lol.

Really hope IQ & Grimes can get going at MSG-south; with the mid-3 having gotten going in game 2, those two young guards are the last part of our regular season success that hasn't yet translated to the playoffs.

[cgf]

We gotta see how Jimmy is gonna look on Saturday with his foot before I can give a better idea on how the series will go. Because right now it feels like a toss up

I think it's a toss-up even if Jimmy comes back at 90% or better, and the series depends on how many more things spo has up his sleeve. Cause I do think with the roster we've given thibs he has an answer for basically everything Spo can throw at him, my big question is if he can make the necessary adjustments quickly enough for Spo not to squeeze 4 wins out first.

Obviously getting Jimmy back is a game-changer, especially with the kind of shot-making they're getting from that supporting cast, so our defense will need to tighten up even more...but even Jimmy can only guard 1 of the mid-3 at a time, so as long as we shoot well enough to punish them for zoning us up too much, our offense should be able to deliver.

[Heat3]

Doubt the Heat win if Giannis was fully healthy for the entire series. But there were more reasons outside of basketball that the Bucks lost.

The only game the Bucks won was without Giannis. Please make your comment make sense.

Its pretty simple. If Giannis plays game 3, Bucks most likely win that game. Heat won and gave them momemtum and extra confidence going into game 4. Then you know the rest. Obviously the Bud death of a family member didn't help either.

In no way im trying to discredit the Heat because Spo has been doing a phenomenal job coaching. At this point hes pretty much the best coach in the league. I just feel like the Bucks choked

Bucks had Giannis with 12 and 15 point 4th quarter leads. You would say they likely win those games. Anybody would. But they lost. Neither was about momentum.

[cgf]

The only game the Bucks won was without Giannis. Please make your comment make sense.

Its pretty simple. If Giannis plays game 3, Bucks most likely win that game. Heat won and gave them momemtum and extra confidence going into game 4. Then you know the rest. Obviously the Bud death of a family member didn't help either.

In no way im trying to discredit the Heat because Spo has been doing a phenomenal job coaching. At this point hes pretty much the best coach in the league. I just feel like the Bucks choked

Bucks had Giannis with 12 and 15 point 4th quarter leads. You would say they likely win those games. Anybody would. But they lost. Neither was about momentum.

Not that I agree that you needed Giannis to get hurt to do it...given that you did snag game 1 and were winning when Giannis went down, plus Bud's too much of a 'trust the math' guy for tournaments...but I think that poster's talking more about the confidence that your guys were able to build up with Giannis out than direct in-game momentum.

Again I don't agree, but I also don't think that's too relevant. This is a different series with different teams being coached differently than that series was. We don't have some of Milwaukee's strengths, but we don't have their same weaknesses, and we have other strengths that they don't.

Like Julius & RJ may not be sharpshooters from the line, but you can't just hack them when they're cooking the way you can Giannis. Similarly Brunson may not be the force Giannis is or the two way guy that Jrue is, but in crunchtime, he's a dude you can trust with the ball in his hands. And Thibs isn't as good as Spo, but he's much more adaptive than Bud.

This series was a toss-up from the start and looks even more like a toss-up to me now.

[iLLmatic860]

lets just worry about Knicks Heat tommorow

[cgf]

lets just worry about Knicks Heat tommorow

Agreed. I'm assuming Jimmy's back and effective. Curious to see if their supporting cast lets their foot off the accelerator a little knowing they kept things close even without Jimmy and now he's back to do the heavy lifting. Not expecting it, but that would be nice

[iLLmatic860]

no way MIami continues this shooting

Bam gonna need to step up eventually

[iLLmatic860]

Read on Twitter

?s=20

we do play better on the road...hopefully that continues

[srhcan]

will referees be again in favour of Knicks?

[cgf]

will referees be again in favour of Knicks?

Hopefully *fingerscrossed*

[Zenzibar]

will referees be again in favour of Knicks?

Hopefully *fingerscrossed*

absolutely

[cgf]

will referees be again in favour of Knicks?

Hopefully *fingerscrossed*

absolutely

Just gotta pray we don't get another Tony Brothers' game if we manage to steal these two in Miami. I know he's just bad, not biased against us, but our record against him is almost as bad as Miami's record against Foster.

[rate_]

It's always been Heat in 5. Coaching or no coaching: Bucks are a way more talented team than the Knicks. And, even w/ an injured Herro/Oladipo, Heat still pulled off the series in 5 games, beating Giannis in the lineup 3x. Knicks are a well coached team, but much less talented than the Bucks. Miami has played much better teams in the playoffs since 2020 and have held their own in all of them. These are the records against teams:

Boston: 7-6
Milwaukee: 8-6
Philadephia: 4-2
Indiana: 4-0
Atlanta: 4-1
Lakers: 2-4

Knicks would lose to all of these teams in a series except for probably Indiana.

[srhcan]

It's always been Heat in 5. Coaching or no coaching: Bucks are a way more talented team than the Knicks. And, even w/ an injured Herro/Oladipo, Heat still pulled off the series in 5 games, beating Giannis in the lineup 3x. Knicks are a well coached team, but much less talented than the Bucks. Miami has played much better teams in the playoffs since 2020 and have held their own in all of them. These are the records against teams:

Boston: 7-6
Milwaukee: 8-6
Philadephia: 4-2
Indiana: 4-0
Atlanta: 4-1
Lakers: 2-4

Knicks would lose to all of these teams in a series except for probably Indiana.

But you are underestimating the power of referees. We just saw it in Game 2 of this series of how they can change the game.

[Heat_team02]

will referees be again in favour of Knicks?

Hopefully *fingerscrossed*

Zarba (Brooklyn) is reffing the Denver/Phoenix game tonight so he's off the list & Foster/Lindsay are doing the Celtics/Sixers.

[rate_]

Spoiler:

It's always been Heat in 5. Coaching or no coaching: Bucks are a way more talented team than the Knicks. And, even w/ an injured Herro/Oladipo, Heat still pulled off the series in 5 games, beating Giannis in the lineup 3x. Knicks are a well coached team, but much less talented than the Bucks. Miami has played much better teams in the playoffs since 2020 and have held their own in all of them. These are the records against teams:

Boston: 7-6
Milwaukee: 8-6
Philadephia: 4-2
Indiana: 4-0
Atlanta: 4-1
Lakers: 2-4

Knicks would lose to all of these teams in a series except for probably Indiana.

But you are underestimating the power of referees. We just saw it in Game 2 of this series of how they can change the game.

Heat will overcome refs unless Scott Foster is in all the games. If they ref it fair, we all know Heat should sweep series. But this is the same Heat team that overcame a 45-17 free throw disparity against Milwaukee last round to closeout the series.

[cgf]

It's always been Heat in 5. Coaching or no coaching: Bucks are a way more talented team than the Knicks. And, even w/ an injured Herro/Oladipo, Heat still pulled off the series in 5 games, beating Giannis in the lineup 3x. Knicks are a well coached team, but much less talented. Miami has played much better teams in the playoffs since 2020 and have held their own. These are the records against teams:

Boston: 7-6
Milwaukee: 8-6
Philadephia: 4-2
Indiana: 4-0
Atlanta: 4-1
Lakers: 2-4

Knicks would lose to all of these teams in a series except for probably Indiana.

The Bucks & 6ers would probably body us, but we'd have a fair shot against you, Boston, or LAL, and we'd probably body Indiana & Atlanta the way we did the Cavs. Milwaukee's more talented than us and had strengths we didn't, but they also had weaknesses that we don't; which you took advantage of to split the season series with them.

Lopez is great at what he does, but he's worse in space than Robinson...nevermind Hartenstein...and he's not the offensive rebound threat that either of our bigs are. So if you stick Bam on our allstar PF like you did Giannis, we can eat you alive on the boards in a way they couldn't.

Also with Randle's better FT shooting and Brunson's poise with the ball, we're not vulnerable to the late game problems Milwaukee ran into where Giannis was scared of getting fouled and Jrue had no clue what to do. Though Spo is always going to give you the advantage, Thibs is a lot better at making adjustments than Bud since he isn't as dogmatic.

And then there's RJ, who just plays like an allstar whenever we face you...even without Herro there for him to pick-on.

[cgf]

Spoiler:

It's always been Heat in 5. Coaching or no coaching: Bucks are a way more talented team than the Knicks. And, even w/ an injured Herro/Oladipo, Heat still pulled off the series in 5 games, beating Giannis in the lineup 3x. Knicks are a well coached team, but much less talented than the Bucks. Miami has played much better teams in the playoffs since 2020 and have held their own in all of them. These are the records against teams:

Boston: 7-6
Milwaukee: 8-6
Philadephia: 4-2
Indiana: 4-0
Atlanta: 4-1
Lakers: 2-4

Knicks would lose to all of these teams in a series except for probably Indiana.

But you are underestimating the power of referees. We just saw it in Game 2 of this series of how they can change the game.

Heat will overcome refs unless Scott Foster is in all the games. If they ref it fair, we all know Heat should sweep series. But this is the same Heat team that overcame a 42-17 free throw disparity against Milwaukee last round to closeout the series.

If you want to play that game; this is also the same heat team that needed Tony Brothers (who the knicks are winless against) and Randle to be out, for them to eek out game 1

[Cmon_Son-_-]

On the one hand, I'm glad for the extra rest when half the rotation is banged up and Thibs has had to lean heavier on some guys because of IQ & Grimes' struggles. On the other, I hate this wait lol.

Really hope IQ & Grimes can get going at MSG-south; with the mid-3 having gotten going in game 2, those two young guards are the last part of our regular season success that hasn't yet translated to the playoffs.

Let go Knicks chants 1 time in Miami and all of a sudden its MSG South lol