Knicks must match Heat's work ethic, physicality in Game 2
Miami Heat guard Gabe Vincent is defended by New York Knicks guard Josh Hart in Game One of the Eastern Conference Semifinal Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on April 30, 2023. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
GREENBURGH, N.Y. — The mystery will play out until the final possible moments, whether Julius Randle would make his return from a sprained left ankle and if Jalen Brunson would tough it out through a sore right ankle. Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau and Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra are not only pitting wits with strategies and preparations on Tuesday, but also with the gamesmanship of hiding the status of their stars to the NBA-mandated time.
While the Heat announced that Jimmy Butler was sidelined at 6 p.m with the sprained right ankle suffered late in Game 1., the Knicks stretched their decision to 7. But while the Butler news emerged, so did Brunson and Randle, taking the court for their warmup sessions. Shortly afterward, the Knicks made it official: both players were a go.
The Knicks have gotten this far, exceeding expectations to win 47 games this season and then upsetting Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs, by being the most prepared team and playing every game with a playoff-like fervor. They found a mirror image facing them when they began this series with the Heat. But in Game 1, it was the Heat who did it better.
“When you have someone on our team that does that that’s a benefit, that does the dirty work, that finds a way to get the extra possessions,” Josh Hart said. “When you have someone on the team that helps. When you have eight of them it really helps.
“That’s something that they all do. Jimmy [Butler] does a great job with it, Gabe Vincent, [Kyle] Lowry, [Kevin] Love puts his body on the line and takes charges at his old age,” he added with a smile. “You know what I mean? So they got championship DNA that they do and then they got a lot of guys that make those extra possessions and that extra effort. We’ve got to make sure that we do the same thing. We can’t have eight of them doing that and two of us doing that. We’ve got everybody to be locked in on that . . .We’ve got to know that, not just rise to that level, but exceed it.”
Hart is one player who always does that, but as he noted, Miami is built on players who had to fight to get to this place. The Heat had five players who were undrafted — Vincent, Max Strus, Duncan Robinson, Haywood Highsmith and Caleb Martin — see action in Game 1 and their star, Butler, was the last pick of the first round in the 2011 NBA Draft. That hunger and desperation is what team president Pat Riley and Spoelstra have built into the Heat.
"That’s the Heat culture,” Hart said. “That’s something that you’ve seen them do for I’m not sure how many years. I think we do that for the most part, but we just can’t take a possession off here, a possession off there. I think that’s something they’ve done a great job of because obviously, they’ve got guys that have won championships, guys that have been to the Finals, the coach that’s a two-time champion. They realize how important each possession is. That’s something that we’ve got to continue to drill, continue to work at, because we don’t have that experience. So we’ve got to make sure we continue to do that every possession.”
“They played more physical than us,” Isaiah Hartenstein said. “They did the little things to win. Going into next game, that’s going to be the main thing, everyone doing the little things and us being the more physical team and doing all the little details on the court. They’re a physical team, but I thought last game we weren’t as physical as we should’ve been. I think going into the game, [we have] a lot of confidence we can get back to that physical level that we’re used to.”
Still, hard work is one thing, but the Knicks were lifted this season by the All-Star play of Randle and by the on- and off-court leadership of Brunson. Making up for the 24 points, 10 rebounds and four assists per game from Randle and the contributions from Brunson — not to mention their experience — is a big ask.
The Knicks know they need their stars, but they need them at something close to full strength.
“Hey man, if Jalen can, Jalen’s going to,” Hart said. “He’s someone who is a warrior. He battles through injuries all the time. He just has to make sure he’s able to be out there perfect. If not, he has to trust us to go out there and do what needs to be done. As a competitor, that’s the hardest part. There’s always times where he can go out there for us and score 30 for us, but if his matchup scores 35, we lose. That’s the toughest part of being a fierce competitor, of knowing when to go out there and battle through something and when you just can’t do it. And that goes for everybody.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
