The Knicks failed to capture their third win in a row as they fall to the Heat 109-103 in their first of two consecutive games against Miami
Game Flow
After a scorching hot start in the 1st half, the teams went into the break 60-59, with New York trailing by one. Reggie Bullock couldn’t miss and was on fire from downtown while Julius Randle closed the half on a bit of a streak himself. A back and forth game in the 2nd half ended up going the way of Miami as the Knicks failed to earn their 3rd win in a row.
While there wasn’t much to separate the two teams, the guard play and RJ Barretts down night seemed to doom the Knicks. New York missed a few key shots that could’ve kept them right in this one late in the 4th quarter. The play from Payton, Quickley, and Barrett left much to be desired.
A quick note from the game yesterday as I saw quite a few people complaining that IQ was taken out for Payton. Almost any other day (besides maybe today) that would be a valid complaint. Unfortunately, Quickley kept getting himself trapped in arguably the worst spot on the floor by dribbling backward 10-15 feet to half-court (arguably because the corner may be the worst spot to get trapped). I don’t believe he ever turned the ball over, but that said, it’s not what you want to see from the PG on the floor.
Knicks Bright Spots
I want to start this one off with Reggie Bullock because while Julius had the more significant game statistically, It was nice to see Bullock stretch the floor. He knocked down an astounding 7 of 13 attempts from beyond the arc and was playing solid defense.
Once again, Julius Randle was an all-star caliber player this afternoon, coming up just 3 assists shy of a triple-double. He dropped 26 points, 13 rebounds, and 7 assists on 10-18 from the field and 3-8 from downtown. He made some challenging shots with Bam draped all over him. Fantastic stuff once again from the big fella.
Up Next
The Knicks head to Miami on Tuesday for the second game of a doubleheader with the Heat. It’ll be interesting to see how D Rose fits in with this team when he arrives. It may be a stretch for him to be ready to play in this one, but I look forward to the day he cracks the rotation. The game kicks off at 7:30 PM ET.
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