While it may be the final time the Miami Heat face off against the New York Knicks Tuesday night in the regular season, both squads have a chance to meet one another in the playoffs depending on how the dominoes fall in terms of playoff seeding. Before the final matchup between the Heat and the Knicks, head coach Erik Spoelstra talks about why their opponents have been so successful this season and the excellence of star Jalen Brunson.
When looking at New York, they are currently 44-30 which puts them fourth in the tightly packed Eastern Conference, where like Miami, any result impacts where they fall in the standings. As a whole though, the Knicks have been an exciting team led by head coach Tom Thibodeau as Spoelstra said to ClutchPoints Tuesday that “this team reflects his personality.”
“I mean, Tom [Thibodeau] absolutely stayed the course, this team reflects his personality, they defend extremely well and you know, they’ve had a lot of adversity, but they’ve been able to weather all those kinds of storms,” Spoelstra said. “They’ve proven to be a top 10 offense as well and then Brunson’s having an MVP type season and the guys really rally around his production and pieces fit, so they’ve had the kind of year they’ve had. They’re a quality opponent that we know we have to play well and we have a bunch of competitors in our locker room and our guys like these kind of matchups.”
Asked Erik Spoelstra about what he sees from the Knicks and how head coach Tom Thibodeau has been riding the ship.
“They’ve had a lot of adversity, but they’ve been able to weather all those storms…” #HeatCulture pic.twitter.com/vMeARmi2ll
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) April 2, 2024
Spoelstra talks about the Heat’s game plan vs. Knicks star Jalen Brunson
Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
While it may be the forgotten playoff series for the Heat as they beat the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics on their way to the NBA Finals last season, they did also beat the Knicks in the semi-finals in six games as they look to seek revenge. So far this season, the Knicks have won two straight games against Miami, both at Madison Square Garden where as Tuesday’s contest will be inside the Kaseya Center.
The anchor to New York’s success this season has no doubt been star Jalen Brunson who has averaged 27.9 points, 6.5 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game while shooting 47.8 percent from the field. Spoelstra said before the Heat’s final regular season matchup against the Knicks that the goal isn’t to ultimately stop him as he’s on a different level, but Miami has to be “extremely disciplined.”
“He is at that level right now, you have to be really good at what you do. You have to have a bunch of habits built on a lot of weeks and months and you just try to be extremely disciplined to your system,” Spoelstra said. “You’re not taking things away from him at this point, at the level he’s playing right now. And that’s why those habits that we talked about all the time are, we have to beat the Knicks. You have to make it tough on him, but ultimately we want to make it tough on their team and when we’re at that level defensively, we’re capable of that.”
Erik Spoelstra talks about Knicks star Jalen Brunson and the game plan against him.
“You try to be extremely disciplined to your system. You’re not taking things away from him at this point at the level he’s playing…” #HeatCulture pic.twitter.com/uY4dS5RceF
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) April 2, 2024
There is no doubt the final eight games are integral for Miami as they are trying to get out of contention for the play-in tournament and obtain a top six seed in the East. Before Tuesday’s outing, the Heat are 41-33 on the season which puts them seventh in the conference.