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

[10DayContract]

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.

I hear you on the bolded part. But we have way more of a recent sample size of Jimmy being Jordan, than we do of the Knicks ever getting to the ECFs. I'm just sayin.

[Froob]

This will be a bloodbath, going Heat in 7.

[cgf]

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

Spo definitely made adjustments that worked perfectly AND Bud refused to do anything about Jimmy beating the math.

[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.

I hear you on the bolded part. But we have way more of a recent sample size of Jimmy being Jordan, than we do of the Knicks ever getting to the ECFs. I'm just sayin.

While true, we do have pretty recent evidence of a team with Brunson as its 2nd option going to the conference finals

[Clyde Frazier]

Love it.

Opposing fans underestimating the Knicks once again. I actually prefer it at this point. This team has made people eat their words time and time again.

Time and time again

last 5 seasons :
21/22 - missed playoffs
20/21 - lost to Atlanta in the first round 1-4
19/20 - missed playoffs
18/19 - missed playoffs
17/18 - missed playoffs

Time and time again you made people eat their words.

Congratulations on beating a bad Cavs team that was not suited at all for the playoffs.

Congrats on being able to use google. No one thought the the Cavs were "not suited at all for the playoffs" going into the series.

[stuporman]

People were saying the Cavs have 4 of the 6 best players in the series against the Knicks...now saying the Heat have the two best players in the series against the Knicks. Keep underestimating the Knicks and especially Brunson, he's proven wrong the people who doubt him his whole life.

[liquidswords]

Every game is going under 95 points for each team. This is going to be the very definition of a rock fight

[iamoti]

Look , i'm not underestimating the Knicks at all. I'm actually a fan of Brunson and Hart, 2 players that i would love to have on my team. But since the thread started i only see posts trying to discredit our win against the Bucks and trying to bring up the regular season as the benchmark for our teams. Our team goes as far as Butler takes us and unfortunately for most of the regular season he coasted and it had a bad influence on the others. We had some good wins in the regular season when we thought things would change but for every good win we lost to bad teams the next game. It was a crazy rollercoaster up to the point where almost no one had faith in the team. You could see the potential but potential doesnt get you a championship. I still cant believe the Bucks series and i really hope they can sustain it because it was by far our best stretch of the season. Is it that far fetched a team can peak in the playoffs?
Anyway i hope we get no injuries on both sides and have a nice couple of games. May the best team win!

Sent from my SM-G975F using RealGM Forums mobile app

[Woodsanity]

Look , i'm not underestimating the Knicks at all. I'm actually a fan of Brunson and Hart, 2 players that i would love to have on my team. But since the thread started i only see posts trying to discredit our win against the Bucks and trying to bring up the regular season as the benchmark for our teams. Our team goes as far as Butler takes us and unfortunately for most of the regular season he coasted and it had a bad influence on the others. We had some good wins in the regular season when we thought things would change but for every good win we lost to bad teams the next game. It was a crazy rollercoaster up to the point where almost no one had faith in the team. You could see the potential but potential doesnt get you a championship. I still cant believe the Bucks series and i really hope they can sustain it because it was by far our best stretch of the season. Is it that far fetched a team can peak in the playoffs?
Anyway i hope we get no injuries on both sides and have a nice couple of games. May the best team win!

Sent from my SM-G975F using RealGM Forums mobile app

In all honesty I don't know what to expect in this series. I feel like both teams are pretty inconsistent. A lot of highs and lows.

[Triple M]

If you think the heat were just some new team in the last round compared to their season #s, then i would like to point out their change happened closer to March because you start to see their 3 point shooting improve.

[Capn'O]

Guten Morgen, Knicks Fans


I am typing this from a beautiful, blue skied Miami day. Barely a cloud anywhere. The Sun is shining, and my ice cold sweet tea is helping to quench my thirst. How is the weather up there? Ah, one moment, I'll be right back......... okay back. A beautiful young college student in a bikini asked me if I could take her sorority's picture, they're all in bikini's on spring break. She says she's a psychology major graduating later this year. Exciting. Well, I have to go now, the water looks great. Try and remember to take the garbage out my friend, we don't want another rat infestation in your 30 story apartment building. Hopefully your elevator is repaired by tomorrow, I know how you hate walking up those stairs every day. I look forward to the upcoming HEAT-KNICKS series! Jimmy is on another level! I think the HEAT will continue their great shooting for this series. Some teams get hot right at the right time.... like the Mavericks in 2011. This Heat team will be hard to beat if the shooting continues. Muy caliente!

Kind regards,
GrumpyHeatFan

I like this kind of trash talk. All hostility and bravado with none of that midwestern passive aggressiveness we saw last round. Gets to the point and well illustrated.

That said, I hope you fall off a bridge and that we gut your team like a fish.

[pistonsbball]

Knicks in 6. Thibs is gonna make life a lot more difficult for Jimmy, he's not gonna have the open airspace to just rise up like he did against the Bucks. That underwhelming Mikwaukee team had the Heat's measure for most of the series, they just absolutely capitulated in crunch time.

[cgf]

Knicks in 6. Thibs is gonna make life a lot more difficult for Jimmy, he's not gonna have the open airspace to just rise up like he did against the Bucks. That underwhelming Mikwaukee team had the Heat's measure for most of the series, they just absolutely capitulated in JB time.

FTFY

[Jfh20]

This series will be payback for the 90s where the Knicks got the better of us.. I’m also going to be really happy knowing my team will be eliminating Stephen a smiths team.

[AirP.]

Knicks in 6. Thibs is gonna make life a lot more difficult for Jimmy, he's not gonna have the open airspace to just rise up like he did against the Bucks. That underwhelming Mikwaukee team had the Heat's measure for most of the series, they just absolutely capitulated in crunch time.

It's not just been the Bucks; it's been since he started ramping up for the playoffs after the all-star break, he's just taking more shots in the playoffs.

Butler's stats in the regular season after the all-star game.

20 games
32.8 min
25.6 pts
5.9 ast
5.6 reb
26.5% usage (only up from pre all-star game which was 25.6)

151 ORTG
.732 TS%

He even mentioned it in a video that nobody seemed to notice until weeks later and then put this clip online.

Spoiler:

Read on Twitter

[Capn'O]

Look , i'm not underestimating the Knicks at all. I'm actually a fan of Brunson and Hart, 2 players that i would love to have on my team. But since the thread started i only see posts trying to discredit our win against the Bucks and trying to bring up the regular season as the benchmark for our teams. Our team goes as far as Butler takes us and unfortunately for most of the regular season he coasted and it had a bad influence on the others. We had some good wins in the regular season when we thought things would change but for every good win we lost to bad teams the next game. It was a crazy rollercoaster up to the point where almost no one had faith in the team. You could see the potential but potential doesnt get you a championship. I still cant believe the Bucks series and i really hope they can sustain it because it was by far our best stretch of the season. Is it that far fetched a team can peak in the playoffs?
Anyway i hope we get no injuries on both sides and have a nice couple of games. May the best team win!

Sent from my SM-G975F using RealGM Forums mobile app

Both teams are better than their regular season record. Us because of personnel changes and yours because they started trying + Kevin Love.

We only like this matchup relative to the Bucks. You match up better vs the Bucks than we do for sure but I think we match up better vs you than the Bucks. Their ability to run Holiday on Brunson is a real problem for us whereas Vincent/Lowry haven't been as effective. Then Lopez would bring Mitch out of the paint, where we want him. We've got defensive wings to bother Jimmy. We've got size in Mitch and the ability to defend in space in iHart to limit Bam. We should be able to maintain a rebounding edge on both ends and that offensive rebounding ability plus Brunson's play has made us much tougher down the stretch than we were to start the season. Randle has always played Bam well but I don't know what to expect from him or when he'll even play.

We do have issues defending the 3 and I assume you'll run out on us in a few games for that reason. I also assume Jimmy will break through in at least a few of the games. He's a more dangerous player than Mitchell because you can't wear him out on defense as easily, can't wall him on the perimeter as he likes to operate deeper, and he's tougher mentally.

Last there's the question of whether Thibs has more intel on Butler than Butler does on him.

I expect a great series. And I hope you fall off a bridge too.

[John Murdoch]

Got Knicks in 6

[NoDopeOnSundays]

Every game is going under 95 points for each team. This is going to be the very definition of a rock fight

I doubt it, their defense isn't that good. They'll throw a zone at us, then when the offensive rebounds become too much to bear they'll go back to man to man and guys like Duncan and Love will be borderline unplayable.

[greg4012]

I take a 82 sample over a 5 one.

Maybe they stay hot the entire playoffs, who knows, but that's more strange than them going back to their recent numbers.

Might want to look at what the same cast did last season.

I'd say that a bunch of guys who are in the NBA because of their 3 point shoot going cold for the season is more flukey than them suddenly regressing to the mean

Strus, Vincent and Martin are all sub 35% for their careers and shot well above their averages last year. Don't even discuss Duncan Robinson.

Doing selective choices of what data pick is not the great argument you think it's

Prayers sent

[cgf]

Wonder who Jimmy will defend in this one. Will Spo go for the kill and try to have the JB's go at each other? Will he just stick Jimmy on the hot hand? Or will we be able to make Jimmy work enough for Spo to just leave Jimmy on RJ?