2023 East Semifinals | (5) New York Knicks VS (8) Miami Heat (Series tied 1-1)

[cgf]

He was a rookie u can't count his numbers when he barely got minutes even now he's barely getting any minutes but he's improved his shot and his whole all around game. The kids a professional he stays ready

Look up his numbers this season

Ok let's ignore his rookie year. This season he hit 40 of 134 3s; 29.9% isn't good enough either. Again I love the kid and do hope he gets some burn because his energy is just infectuous even if teams can ignore him as a shooter...but for him to get more PT he's going to need to shoot better.

Just for comparison, RJ shot 31.0% from 3 this year. Hartenstein & Keels were the only knicks to shoot worse from 3 this season.

Deuce is shooting 40% 3s in 2 attempts per game since February. That's not a bad improvement from a career 28% 3PT shooter, don't you think?

Not really. Counting the 3 he hit against Cleveland he has 25 3PA since february. That's not even a small sample size, that's no sample size.

For comparison, RJ took 24 3s in the Cleveland series alone.

[cgf]

Really depends if Jimmy can keep his level of play up .. Will randle get on track ? Bam has to be useful on the boards at least … heat in 7 . Jimmy has to guard Brunson. Duncan has keep up his shooting as well . Should be great series

Tough to say with Julius. He seemed to be getting back to form in game 5, but then he re-injured the ankle. So even if he's back in time to start this series, you'd have to imagine he won't be close to 100% again.

Luckily the heat don't have a Mobley next to Bam and if they stick Bam on Julius, then Mitch will be able to dominate...but I'm not expecting Julius to start getting to 80-90% until the back half of this series at the earliest.

Knicks have the luxury of having Obi as a backup. So even when Randle isn’t playing, or not playing well, I have complete trust and faith in Toppin whenever he’s on the floor. They have starter quality talent, riding the bench. He has proven that he’s more than capable of filling in when he’s in the game. One could argue that the offense flows better, because he plays off the ball really well. He also runs the floor extremely well, and can bit the 3 from the wing.

I know people love to s*** on Randle, while Obi's a good kid and I do think he has huge potential, but we're a significantly worse team without Julius.

[cgf]

Bulls were thinking the same thing before the play in game..

We weren't the ones who brought up the regular season

Most of the posters definately brought up regular season. Like you had some impressive run. You had 3 , T H R E E, more wins than us. I won't even bother to gather our record against teams like Detroit, Orlando, Charlotte to see how many losses we had there.

How's that now?

I love how Knick fans keep bringing the Atlanta game when we got destroyed on rebounds, while totally ignoring the fact Atlanta werr our sons previous to that. 1 game tells the story. Cool

Sent from my SM-G975F using RealGM Forums mobile app

[One Last Shot]

Ok let's ignore his rookie year. This season he hit 40 of 134 3s; 29.9% isn't good enough either. Again I love the kid and do hope he gets some burn because his energy is just infectuous even if teams can ignore him as a shooter...but for him to get more PT he's going to need to shoot better.

Just for comparison, RJ shot 31.0% from 3 this year. Hartenstein & Keels were the only knicks to shoot worse from 3 this season.

Deuce is shooting 40% 3s in 2 attempts per game since February. That's not a bad improvement from a career 28% 3PT shooter, don't you think?

Not really. Counting the 3 he hit against Cleveland he has 25 3PA since february. That's not even a small sample size, that's no sample size.

For comparison, RJ took 24 3s in the Cleveland series alone.

He's 18/44(41%) in 3PT since February 2023 in 11 minutes per game. What website did you see that 25 3PA since Feb?

[cgf]

Deuce is shooting 40% 3s in 2 attempts per game since February. That's not a bad improvement from a career 28% 3PT shooter, don't you think?

Not really. Counting the 3 he hit against Cleveland he has 25 3PA since february. That's not even a small sample size, that's no sample size.

For comparison, RJ took 24 3s in the Cleveland series alone.

He's 18/44(41%) in 3PT since February 2023 in 11 minutes per game. What website did you see that 25 3PA since Feb?

I just looked at his game logs and added up his attempts.

EDIT:
I was looking at his FTs, my bad. Maybe it's time I shower and actually wake up

Still 44 3PA is a nothing sample size. Hopefully he keeps hitting his shots cause we all want to see more of Deuce and that's the main reason he hasn't been able to get more PT, despite Thibs' obvious appreciation for his tenacity.

[goodboys lats]

Knicks just beat some kids. Heat beat the best team in the East in 5. Jimmy is easily the best player in this series. How does anyone think the Knicks win this?

Without Giannis 2.75 games…

They were down 14 when Giannis went down game 1 and the only game they won was when he was out.

[DrCoach]

If you want to be more specific , Giannis missed 2 games and a half.

That half a game they were already down double digits with Giannis playing.

And they won one of the 2 full games without Giannis. You could argue they played better without Giannis.

Next.

He played 11 mins out of 48

Thats actually more than 2.75 cause math

He played one or two minutes in Q2 but how does that matter ? you try to downplay our win by saying Giannis was injured yet the 2 full games Giannis played and they were full healthy they lost. Did Giannis miss 10+ free throws because of the injury? How about the fact we didnt have Herro for 4 full games and Oladipo for the last 2?

The best player on the best team , former multiple NBA MVP in the NBA did not play 2.75 games. The games he did play he was hurt.

Hiw about the Heat were a play-in team with Herro and Olidipo

[AirP.]

Knicks just beat some kids. Heat beat the best team in the East in 5. Jimmy is easily the best player in this series. How does anyone think the Knicks win this?

Without Giannis 2.75 games…

They were down 14 when Giannis went down game 1 and the only game they won was when he was out.

It needs to be reframed; Giannis missed 1.75 of the 4 games Milwaukee lost. They actually won without him with incredible 3pt shooting.

The game Giannis left early, game 1, he was -9 in 11 minutes.

What people are completely not getting is that the Heat are now different. Butler only took 14 FGA per game in the regular season and had a calculated ORTG of 135 (highest calculated ORTG by a 20+ ppg player this season) while scoring 23 ppg, so when that player takes another 10 shots per game his team's offensive efficiency is going to go up (Miami's efficiency was bad in the regular season) and his scoring totals will go up.

If it helps, Giannis did average 32 pts, 15 rebounds, 8 assists in the last 2 full games he played which were both losses, so that's something isn't it?

Luckily for NY, they have multiple good defensive options to throw at Butler and Thibs knows Butler... but Butler knows Thibs. It could be an awesome series.

*Calculated ORTG is the ORTG that basketball-reference.com uses.

[nbafan38]

They really need to bring back the nba on nbc for this series.

[SK21209]

Knicks just beat some kids. Heat beat the best team in the East in 5. Jimmy is easily the best player in this series. How does anyone think the Knicks win this?

Because the Heat were thoroughly mediocre all year and that sample size isn’t just irrelevant now. They’re not magically a new team. They played really well and shot 45% from three as a team against a Bucks team that has been overrated all year. The Bucks had the best record in the league but were 5th in net rating (+3.6, a little above the Knicks at +3.0) and expected win/loss. The idea that they were this juggernaut on par with or superior to Boston was always wrong. They were never the best team in the East and were humiliated by Boston in Milwaukee the last time they played.

I’ll go out on a limb and say the Heat won’t shoot 45% from three for the course of this series. I’ll go out on a limb and say Jimmy won’t go for 37ppg on 67% TS% again. Maybe he will, in which case he might be the best player in the world lol. But I expect to see some regression from Miami because they obviously played above their heads in the first round while the Bucks simultaneously choked their brains out.

[Sign5]

Lol after Heat win this series, the naysayers will say 'b-b-b-but sample size they DEFINITELY won't replicate vs Boston!' Then if they actually squeak through that seriea and face a loaded suns and lose those then they'll be like SEE I told you, FRAUDS. All to simply not give them credit.

[Backcountry]

Really hoping for a 7-game series.

The two JBs: Jimmy (pick #30 in his draft year) vs. Brunson (pick #33 in his draft year). Most Important Player for each team.

But despite Playoff Jimmy, NY has a more balanced lineup. There is no player they rely on as much as Miami relies on JB. Gotta give NY the edge. Randle's injury may prove very influential, though....

Knicks in 7.

[cgf]

Knicks just beat some kids. Heat beat the best team in the East in 5. Jimmy is easily the best player in this series. How does anyone think the Knicks win this?

Because the Heat were thoroughly mediocre all year and that sample size isn’t just irrelevant now. They’re not magically a new team. They played really well and shot 45% from three as a team against a Bucks team that has been overrated all year. The Bucks had the best record in the league but were 5th in net rating (+3.6, a little above the Knicks at +3.0) and expected win/loss. The idea that they were this juggernaut on par with or superior to Boston was always wrong. They were never the best team in the East and were humiliated by Boston in Milwaukee the last time they played.

I’ll go out on a limb and say the Heat won’t shoot 45% from three for the course of this series. I’ll go out on a limb and say Jimmy won’t go for 37ppg on 67% TS% again. Maybe he will, in which case he might be the best player in the world lol. But I expect to see some regression from Miami because they obviously played above their heads in the first round while the Bucks simultaneously choked their brains out.

Can't expect a team's #s to be the same when they're coasting as they are when that same team starts going balls to the wall. And given that a very similar Miami team was just 1st in the east, I think them coasting through the regular season is much more likely than them suffering that severe of regression across the board.

The truth is likely somewhere in the middle...they're not as good as they were against Milwaukee and not as bad as they were in the regular season...but atm it's hard to know which way that balance tips.

[cgf]

Lol after Heat win this series, the naysayers will say 'b-b-b-but sample size they DEFINITELY won't replicate vs Boston!' Then if they actually squeak through that seriea and face a loaded suns and lose those then they'll be like SEE I told you, FRAUDS. All to simply not give them credit.

Anyone looking to discredit Miami can already point to the Heat injuring Julius at the end of the regular season; so that for a second straight series their opponent's #1-option star PF will be far from 100%...which is silly given that injuries are a thing every team has to deal with and Miami has injuries of their own.

...but it's there for people who want to discredit the Heat should they win this series. Same way people who want to discredit the Knicks if we should win, will be able to point to Herro's injury, Miami's RS performances, and the energy they expended on beating the Bucks.

I hope that whoever wins this series beats Boston/Philly in the ECF. I hated the Heat for a long time, but I can't hate Jimmy. Rooted for him for too long when he was a Bull...and then again when my bullsfan BFF & I followed the TimberBulls.

[nbafan38]

This is a very hard series to predict.

The knicks are probably more talented especially with the heat missing 2 players.

However the heat are way more experienced and Jimmy Butler is the best postseason player on either team.

The heat played lousy all year and not sure if they can sustain the level of play they had against Milwaukee, lean Knicks here but could honestly see this going either way.

[SK21209]

Knicks just beat some kids. Heat beat the best team in the East in 5. Jimmy is easily the best player in this series. How does anyone think the Knicks win this?

Because the Heat were thoroughly mediocre all year and that sample size isn’t just irrelevant now. They’re not magically a new team. They played really well and shot 45% from three as a team against a Bucks team that has been overrated all year. The Bucks had the best record in the league but were 5th in net rating (+3.6, a little above the Knicks at +3.0) and expected win/loss. The idea that they were this juggernaut on par with or superior to Boston was always wrong. They were never the best team in the East and were humiliated by Boston in Milwaukee the last time they played.

I’ll go out on a limb and say the Heat won’t shoot 45% from three for the course of this series. I’ll go out on a limb and say Jimmy won’t go for 37ppg on 67% TS% again. Maybe he will, in which case he might be the best player in the world lol. But I expect to see some regression from Miami because they obviously played above their heads in the first round while the Bucks simultaneously choked their brains out.

Can't expect a team's #s to be the same when they're coasting as they are when that same team starts going balls to the wall. And given that a very similar Miami team was just 1st in the east, I think them coasting through the regular season is much more likely than them suffering that severe of regression across the board.

The truth is likely somewhere in the middle...they're not as good as they were against Milwaukee and not as bad as they were in the regular season...but atm it's hard to know which way that balance tips.

Agreed that the “real” Miami, or at least the Miami we’re getting in the Knicks series, is somewhere between what we saw against the Bucks and what we saw in the regular season. I’d wager the Miami we get is pretty even with the Knicks. I’m going Knicks in 7 personally.

[Romeiro Celtic]

I'm rooting all the way for Miami

Watch on YouTube

[cgf]

Because the Heat were thoroughly mediocre all year and that sample size isn’t just irrelevant now. They’re not magically a new team. They played really well and shot 45% from three as a team against a Bucks team that has been overrated all year. The Bucks had the best record in the league but were 5th in net rating (+3.6, a little above the Knicks at +3.0) and expected win/loss. The idea that they were this juggernaut on par with or superior to Boston was always wrong. They were never the best team in the East and were humiliated by Boston in Milwaukee the last time they played.

I’ll go out on a limb and say the Heat won’t shoot 45% from three for the course of this series. I’ll go out on a limb and say Jimmy won’t go for 37ppg on 67% TS% again. Maybe he will, in which case he might be the best player in the world lol. But I expect to see some regression from Miami because they obviously played above their heads in the first round while the Bucks simultaneously choked their brains out.

Can't expect a team's #s to be the same when they're coasting as they are when that same team starts going balls to the wall. And given that a very similar Miami team was just 1st in the east, I think them coasting through the regular season is much more likely than them suffering that severe of regression across the board.

The truth is likely somewhere in the middle...they're not as good as they were against Milwaukee and not as bad as they were in the regular season...but atm it's hard to know which way that balance tips.

Agreed that the “real” Miami, or at least the Miami we’re getting in the Knicks series, is somewhere between what we saw against the Bucks and what we saw in the regular season. I’d wager the Miami we get is pretty even with the Knicks. I’m going Knicks in 7 personally.

I'm optimistic but time will tell. I won't exactly be shocked if they end up much closer to the Milwaukee-series Heat or 2022-RS Heat than the 2023-RS Heat. Jimmy's just different, they have smart players around him (who are draining the open shots he's getting them), and spo's an exceptional coach.

Luckily we have the depth to match their intensity level for 48 minutes and Thibs knows Jimmy better than anybody.

[Upperclass]

Thibs can guard Butler with height, strength or length.. Brunson can break down the Heat D and Bam is too small for any of the knicks big men.. this isnt going to be as close as people think.. probably a 4-2 that starts as a 3-1 knicks

[knicksstuff]

what do we take away from the Bucks being up big in the last two games?

Is that jimmy and the heat getting hot and bucks not getting out of their own way? Or did Spo make adjustments going into the 4th for both games and that's what had them win the series?

Whats a better representation of this Heat team.. the team that was down 11 and 16 heading in to the 4th the last two games or they team taht came back from those big leads by the Bucks? Its hard to look at these games and see it was more on the Bucks blowing it than the Heat being in full control