Everything that could have gone wrong for the New York Knicks went awry on Saturday, as they were trounced by the Miami Heat, losing Game 3 with a score of 105-86. This left them trailing 2-1 in their best-of-seven series.
From the opening minutes, the Knicks stood little chance, and the story of the game for New York was their persistent struggle with shooting the basketball—a recurring issue throughout the postseason.
As if things couldn’t get worse after a 7-34 performance from three-point range in Game 1, the Knicks managed a disastrous 8-40 from downtown on Saturday, appearing consistently lost in shooting for the majority of the postseason. Moreover, Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle combined for an 0-10 record from beyond the arc.
The Knicks’ shooting is utterly abysmal:
The team’s three-point shooting stands at 27.8% in the playoffs, with less than 30% accuracy in five of their eight playoff games thus far.
Yikes.
Apart from their dreadful shooting, the Knicks appeared lethargic on the court and were simply outmatched in every aspect.
Brunson led the team’s scoring on Saturday with 20 points but with an inefficient 7-20 from the field and 0-5 from the three-point range.
Randle ended the game with as many turnovers as made shots (four each), contributing 10 points, 14 rebounds, and two assists in approximately 38 minutes of play.
Defensively, the Knicks had no answer for Heat forward Jimmy Butler, who finished with a game-high 28 points. The Knicks struggled to limit fouls on Butler, allowing him 11 trips to the charity stripe, where he made 10 free throws.
“They came out strong,” RJ Barrett said after the game. “That’s something that, going into the next game, we’ve got to understand and bring that intensity.”
RJ Barrett via NY Post
Tensions flared late in the third quarter when Heat center Cody Zeller and Julius Randle got into a scuffle, resulting in a total of three technical fouls: two for Miami and one for New York.
Adding insult to injury, Knicks’ Sixth Man Immanuel Quickley suffered a sprained ankle late in the fourth quarter and did not return to the game.
His status for the now-crucial Game 4 remains unclear, but more information could be available by Monday. Quickley contributed 12 points on 4-12 shooting in approximately 20 minutes before his injury.
To come out on top in this series, the Knicks must simply play better and smarter basketball in Game 4. New York has shown great resilience all season long, and they will have another chance to prove themselves on Monday night with their season at stake.
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