Three games into the Eastern Conference Semifinals and the Knicks are currently down 1-2 following an embarrassing Game 3 loss. There are several reasons why New York is currently losing the series both from a coaching and player standpoint.
While aside from Game 3, the Knicks haven’t been too bad, there are certain aspects of the game that they have been lacking in big time.
These three stats are very crucial to the game and are things the Knicks cannot afford to continue being bad at if they want a chance to win this series. Erik Spoelstra has already taken advantage of these weaknesses and will continue to do so if New York doesn’t improve.
3 stats that help showcase why the Knicks are down in second-round playoff series
3. Julius Randle’s 36.4 FG% and 21.4 3PT%
While this stat can be taken with a grain of salt considering that Julius Randle has played in just two games this series and is possibly still dealing with his ankle injury, there are no doubts that he has been disappointing.
Spoelstra has been attacking Randle defensively in an almost perfect way. Not only has Bam Adebayo been his primary defender, but the Heat are consistently trapping Randle once he gets low, forcing him to make difficult decisions.
Again, Randle may still be dealing with an injury, however, that is no excuse for his incredibly poor decision-making so far in this series. Randle’s shot selection has been rather questionable and in Game 3 he made multiple poor decisions as a passer. He may have been good in Game 2, but the way Randle played in Game 3 is unacceptable for a player of his caliber and it has fans worried for the rest of this series.
Randle needs to slow it down and let the game come to him as opposed to forcing his offense like he did multiple times on Saturday. Hopefully, he figures things out in Game 4, because if he continues to play this poorly, the Knicks will likely lose the series rather quickly.
taken advantage</a> of these weaknesses and will continue to do so if New York doesn’t improve.</p>
<h2>3 stats that help showcase why the Knicks are down in second-round playoff series</h2>
<h3>3. Julius Randle’s 36.4 FG% and 21.4 3PT%</h3>
<p>While this stat can be taken with a grain of salt considering that Julius Randle has played in just two games this series and is possibly still dealing with his ankle injury, there are no doubts that he has been disappointing.</p>
<p>Spoelstra has been attacking Randle defensively in an almost perfect way. Not only has Bam Adebayo been his primary defender, but the Heat are consistently trapping Randle once he gets low, forcing him to make difficult decisions.</p>
<p>Again, Randle may still be dealing with an injury, however, that is no excuse for his incredibly poor decision-making so far in this series. Randle’s shot selection has been rather questionable and in Game 3 he made multiple poor decisions as a passer. He may have been good in Game 2, but the way Randle played in Game 3 is <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2023/05/08/3-stats-largely-responsible-knicks-struggles-heat-randle/"https://dailyknicks.com/2023/05/07/all-star-version-knicks-julius-randle-fading-playoffs-inexcusable/">unacceptable for a player of his caliber</a> and it has fans worried for the rest of this series.</p>
<p>Randle needs to slow it down and let the game come to him as opposed to forcing his offense like he did multiple times on Saturday. Hopefully, he figures things out in Game 4, because if he continues to play this poorly, the Knicks will likely lose the series rather quickly.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2023/05/08/3-stats-largely-responsible-knicks-struggles-heat-randle/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> This stat is just unacceptable </a>
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<img decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-143152" src=https://dailyknicks.com/2023/05/08/3-stats-largely-responsible-knicks-struggles-heat-randle/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1706,w_2560/https%3A%2F%2Fdailyknicks.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1388262919-scaled.jpeg" alt="" width="2560" height="1706" srcset="https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1388262919-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1388262919-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1388262919-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1388262919-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Immanuel Quickley, New York Knicks. (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>2. 68.1% Free Throw Percentage</h3>
<p>Through the first three games in the series, the Knicks are shooting 49-of-72 from the free throw line, which is embarrassing and unacceptable. This ranks last out of all teams remaining in the playoffs by a solid margin.</p>
<p>The Knicks have never been an incredible free throw shooting team, however, this number is terrible. For the series, New York only has three players shooting above 80% from the line. Of these three, there is Isaiah Harteinstein, who has one free throw attempt that he made. Immanuel Quickley, who has hit all four of his attempts, and Jalen Brunson who has actually hit 13 of his 14 attempts.</p>
<p>Out of all the players who have taken three or more free throw attempts a game, Brunson is the only one shooting above 75% from the line.</p>
<p>What makes this frustrating is that there isn’t a way for the Knicks to fix this through strategy or game planning. The team must simply be better at hitting their free throw attempts.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2023/05/08/3-stats-largely-responsible-knicks-struggles-heat-randle/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Something the Knicks have struggled with all season </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-143151" src=https://dailyknicks.com/2023/05/08/3-stats-largely-responsible-knicks-struggles-heat-randle/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1706,w_2560/https%3A%2F%2Fdailyknicks.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1488030256-scaled.jpeg" alt="" width="2560" height="1706" srcset="https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1488030256-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1488030256-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1488030256-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1488030256-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px"><p class="wp-caption-text">RJ Barrett, New York Knicks. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>1. 27.2% Three-Point Percentage as a team</h3>
<p>The Knicks have been a pretty mediocre <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2023/05/08/3-stats-largely-responsible-knicks-struggles-heat-randle/"https://nypost.com/2023/05/07/knicks-3-point-shooting-issues-arent-going-away/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">three-point shooting</a> team all year, ranking 19th in the NBA while shooting 35.4% from deep. However, in this playoff series, the team has reached an all-time low and it has cost them in a big way.</p>
<p>To make things worse, New York has increased its three-point attempts every game against the Heat and it has been aggravating to watch. While the Heat’s paint-packing defense has, in a way, forced New York to shoot so many threes, they have the slashing ability to at least try and work around it as opposed to settling for so many jump shots.</p>
<p>With all due respect, there is no reason for the Knicks to be taking 38.0 three-point attempts per game in this series. This ranks fourth amongst all teams left in the playoffs and considering their percentage of threes made ranks second-to-last, Thibodeau needs to change his offensive game plan.</p>
<p>Heading into Game 4, the Knicks cannot continue to settle for so many jump shots. There is far too much offensive versatility on this team for them to be taking that many threes each game. We hope to see improvement from New York as the series progresses, however, these three stats are not a good indicator of how things could go.</p>
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