NBA Playoffs Series Review:
Miami Heat beat New York Knicks 4-1
The Knicks came into the playoffs riding a hot streak, but
were unable to continue their great play against a better Miami Heat team. Injuries were a concern heading into the
post-season for the Knicks and it got worse throughout the series. The Knicks were unable to build any
continuity in this series, starting a different lineup basically every game
with a different Knick going down every game or another player being deemed
unable to play for the series. Even with
all those problems and knowing what they were up against, the players never
gave up; even if at times the execution, aggressiveness and intensity were not
at levels they needed to be at.
Injuries doomed the Knicks from the beginning. Heading into the playoffs, players like Jared
Jeffries and Baron Davis were already nursing nagging injuries. They gave everything they could, but in the
end it was not enough. It was also not
the end of the injuries for the Knicks.
Tyson Chandler developed the stomach flu before Game 1, greatly
impacting his performance throughout the series. Game 1 we saw promising rookie
Iman Shumpert tear his ACL and lateral meniscus; he is looking at an 8 month
rehab. Game 4 Baron Davis suffered a
horrific knee injury, tearing his ACL and MLC in addition to partially tearing
his patella. His career is potentially
over, facing a 12 month rehab. Let’s also not forget Amar’e Stoudemire hitting
his hand on a fire extinguisher case resulting in a laceration on his left hand
that required 15 stitches. He missed
Game 3 because of the injury and is lucky to only miss that as doctors told
Stoudemire that he was a millimeter away from hitting a nerve, which would have
ended his basketball career on the spot.
These injuries and constant changing of the team was just too much for
the Knicks to overcome.
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The Heat just seemed more prepared than the Knicks. Right from the start of the series, it was
evident that the Heat and their coaching staff had made the necessary adjustments. They changed their defensive approach against
the Knicks, specifically, Carmelo Anthony.
The Heat decided to front Anthony, making it difficult for the Knick
guards to get Anthony the ball in good spots on the court. If Anthony did end up with the ball, he was
far away from the basket and then faced double and triple teams, forcing him
into tough situations. Mike Woodson and
the Knicks were able to figure it out for spurts, but were unable to overcome
the Heat as they just seemed to be one step ahead of the Knicks the whole
series.
Another thing that stood out was the play of Steve
Novak. He became a folk hero in New
York, knocking down 3 pointer after 3 pointer after
being inserted into the rotation. But
his disappearing act in the playoffs was alarming. Novak managed to only get off nine shots in
the five game series. A lot of this can
be credited to the Heat’s stifling defense but it is still worth noting that he
got up 17 shots in three regular season games against the Heat. This was a disappointment for the Knicks, as
the Heat were one of the worst teams in the NBA at defending the 3 point
shot. It was an area the Knicks should
have thrived in, but instead they floundered; another example of the Heat
coaching staff preparing their team better than Mike Woodson and his Knicks
staff. The front office will have a
difficult decision to make with Novak this off-season.
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The bench had been a strong point for the Knicks all season
but did not have the impact in the series as hoped. Novak, as mentioned earlier, was neutralized
by a swarming Heat defense. J.R. Smith
was a gamer, but struggled mightily from the field. Smith shot 24-76 from the field, good for 31.6%
and an even more disappointing 5-28 from 3 point range, good for 17.9%. One positive for Smith though was, outside of
Carmelo Anthony, he was the only player on the Knicks who was able to get his
own shot. They did not fall as often as you’d
hope, but he was aggressive and never backed down from tough match-ups with
Lebron James and Dwayne Wade. Smith has
said in the past that he will test the free agent market this season, but as a
Knicks fan I really hope he is back.
Sure he is immature at times, but he brings it every game and with a
little guidance would become an outstanding player.
The defense was not up to the level it needed to be for the
Knicks to pull off an upset. Injuries
really set the Knicks back from the beginning of the series. Jared Jeffries was limited throughout because
of a sore knee he was unable to overcome from the regular season. Jeffries anchored the defense on the 2nd
unit and without him they struggled to keep the Heat at bay. Losing Iman Shumpert in Game 1 was a huge
blow as well. Shumpert is quickly becoming one of the best perimeter defenders
in the NBA, defending the opposing teams’ best players on a nightly basis. Tyson Chandler being under the weather was
the biggest blow. Since coming over as a
free agent this past off-season, Chandler
has changed the culture around New York. He turned the Knicks from a laughing stock on
defense the past few seasons into a top 5 defensive team this season. Without him manning the middle and setting
the tone from the beginning of the series, the Knicks were doomed.
In the playoffs the stars are supposed to shine their
brightest. For the Knicks they had the
unfortunate draw of having to face three of them in Lebron James, Dwayne Wade
and Chris Bosh. Those three outshined the
Knicks star duo of Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire. Outside of a spirited Game 4 performance in
which Anthony and Stoudemire combined for 61 points and 16 rebounds, the rest
of the series was pretty much lackluster.
Stoudemire struggled with foul trouble and inconsistency, finally
blowing up after Game 2 when he suffered the laceration on his hand. Anthony had 3 big scoring outputs, but they
were not the more efficient outings, taking a high number of shots to reach
those totals. Anthony was unable to carry the Knicks against a superior Heat
squad alone.
So ends the roller coaster Knicks season. This season was like a roller coaster that
was really hyped up, but ended up falling short of expectations. There were low points and high points throughout
the season. I am happy as a Knicks fan
that they were able to overcome so many distractions throughout the season to
make the playoffs, just hoped for a better performance. The Knicks did end their 13 game playoff
losing streak which is something to build off of for next year.
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