One of the largest problems that hampered the New York Knicks throughout the 2022-23 season — an inability to hit open shots — reared its head at one of the most inopportune times.
Knicks shooters were ice-cold from beyond the arc, going 7-of-34 in their 108-101 Game 1 loss to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden, including an abysmal 4-for-18 showing in the second half.
“Obviously, we’re going to have to shoot the ball better than we did tonight,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “The thing is, the discrepancy on the threes is a lot of ground to make up if they’re making 13 and we’re making seven.”
Obi Toppin, who started in place of an injured Julius Randle, hit four of the Knicks’ three points on 11 attempts while the rest of the Knicks went 3-for-23. RJ Barrett was held to a 1-for-5 afternoon while Jalen Brunson went 0-for-7.
“Outside the three-point line, I was terrible,” Brunson said. “This was on me today.”
It allowed the Heat to erase a 12-point first-half deficit while presenting the visitors with a simple defensive gameplan to quiet MSG: Give them an open look from deep.
“We’re just not making shots right now,” Josh Hart, who went 0-for-4 from deep, said. “We did a hell of a job playing tough, playing physical. We’re just not making shots.”
While they shot 3-for-16 from three in the first half, the Knicks bounded out to an early lead behind an overwhelming showing in the paint, scoring 40 first-half points in that area — their most in a playoff half over the last 25 years.
But when the Heat adjusted at halftime to collapse on Knicks drivers and muck up the lanes to the basket. It greatly limited Jalen Brunson and RJ Barrett from facilitating, and the Knicks lost their groove.
Of their 46 points over the final 24 minutes of action, 22 of them came in the paint while their shooting from deep struggled mightily.
“That’s a big gap,” Barrett said. “Especially in a playoff game.”
That clearly will continue to be Miami’s plan as the series progresses — and there’s not much more the Knicks can do but convert what’s being given.
“The game tells you what to do,” Thibodeau said. “If you’re open, you have to let it go. They’re going to collapse and we have to make the right reads. That’s it.
“If they’re open, you have to shoot them.”
This is nothing new for the Knicks in the postseason. Their 20.5% showing from three-point range on Sunday was their lowest of the playoffs, so far, but they’ve shot under 30% in four of their last six games (25.7% overall this postseason).
“I feel like it’s going to fall for us,” Toppin said. “We have to go back, look at the film, and be ready for the next game.”
