3 Keys to Beating the Heat

The New York Knicks (1-2) hope to hit .500 in the standings as they prepare to take on the Miami Heat (2-1) on Wednesday night. Beating tough Eastern Conference opponents won’t be an easy task, but three key factors could determine whether the Knicks come away victorious.

The Knicks need ball movement and 3-point shooting against the Heat’s elite defense.

After the Knicks lost their third game of the season to the Cleveland Cavaliers, All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns said it would take a film review to see how he and his teammates can maximize their 3-point shooting distances. The Knicks rank third in the NBA in assists per game (20.3 per game) and fifth among teams in 3-point percentage (10.7 per 3 p.m.), but they are shooting 37.6 percent from deep. distance, which is the eighth best result in the Association.

Something doesn’t add up. This is not talent. This is not the start of the season and this is not a lack of effort. The Knicks simply aren’t performing the way they should or should be offensively.

New York will have to evaluate what’s holding them back from exploding in scoring to properly match up against a Heat team that has held opponents to a meager 41.7 percent shooting from the field (No. 3 in the league) and 35.2 percent from deep. . (No. 11). They’ll have to be smart with their passing as the Heat also don’t allow teams to set each other up, giving up the second-highest assist rate in the league at 20.7 assists per game.

The Knicks need to play Terry Rozier, Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez from behind the arc.

New York could find success by giving Heat stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo space on the perimeter and setting up Terry Rozier, Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. on the outside. Rozier leads the team in scoring with 19.3 points per game and makes 40 percent of his three-pointers. Herro is Miami’s second-leading scorer but the most aggressive scorer, and his 18.3 points per game are backed by his 2.7 points per game. Jacques Jr. is emerging as the most productive player on the Heat’s bench, making 85.7 percent of his 2.3 three-point attempts on the night.

Miami has always been prone to nuke from a distance. However, they now have four elite playmakers who, with their versatility, can find their own shot and put pressure on the defence. Although, if the Knicks can encourage their franchise player Butler and Adebayo to make ill-advised shots from outside while chasing three shooters out of bounds and away from the three-point line, they will be able to stifle the Heat’s offense as much as possible.

The Knicks could use some great play from Jalen Brunson or Karl-Anthony Towns.

Mikal Bridges looks like the player he was in 2023-24 for the Brooklyn Nets with his 18.7 points per game, and the Knicks are getting great production from Josh Hart with his 16 points per game. But when Towns is the team’s fourth leading scorer at 15.3 points per game while making just 9.3 field goals per night, there are no lines to read between them.

Clearly, the Knicks need to score more across the board. Their leading scorer, Jalen Brunson, is averaging 5.7 points less than he was a year ago, but at least he’s doing so on 19 shots per game. The Knicks’ number one priority should be getting Towns more involved, coupled with the team finding faster, more efficient ways to score. His 50.0/66.7/93.3 field goal, three-point and free throw percentages are unprecedented for a player his size. He deserves more responsibility. After this, Brunson should start to feel like the MVP candidate he was last season.

In a perfect world, if the Knicks get more than 25 points from Brunson and more than 20 from Towns, and still get that much from Bridges and Hart, plus Miles McBride and Cam Payne off the bench, they could at least match and likely crush the Heat on the scoreboard. But as their history against each other, as well as conference play, shows, it’s likely to be a tight affair from start to finish.