MIAMI — The Knicks want to take more threes.
It’s part of the pace and space identity Mike Brown is establishing as Tom Thibodeau’s replacement as head coach, something Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra noticed as a key difference between the Knicks of old and the Knicks of new.
“There’s some schematic changes, playing faster a little bit, but they’re a well-schooled team,” Spoelstra said ahead of tipoff on Sunday. “They have veteran players, they’ve won a lot of games, they’ve won a lot of playoff games. You have to respect that. You just can’t respect it too much.”
The Knicks attempted 40 3s in the season opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers and 45 two nights later against the Boston Celtics. They took 28 more in the first half alone against the Heat at the Kaseya Center on Sunday and had 42 attempts from deep by the start of the fourth quarter.
The thing about high volume threes, though, is they can turn a game in both directions. Make a bunch and your opponent’s been buried beneath an avalanche. Miss a bunch? You end up in the situation the Knicks were in on Sunday.
The Knicks generated clean looks all night long, following Brown’s directive to get into the paint and spray the ball out to three-point line when the defense collapses to the rim. But they were about as cold as the frigid temperature inside the Kaseya Center for their third game of the season. As a result, the Heat got out in transition time and time again to run away with a 115-107 victory and hand the Knicks their first loss of the season.
Maybe South Beach and its attractions were to blame. Brown chastised Knicks beat reporters for getting to Miami early instead of attending practice in Tarrytown Saturday morning — but the Knicks played like they were the ones in a rush to get to South Florida, seeing two or three rims on every attempt from downtown on Sunday.
The three-point shot made all the difference. So did Miles McBride, whose efficiency from deep and penchant for guarding the point of attack were sorely missed as he was absent from the first leg of the Knicks’ three-game road trip due to personal reasons.
The Knicks were also without Mitchell Robinson, who continues to be load managed and hasn’t seen the court since Oct. 9. Robinson is an important piece to New York’s defense, a rim protector, dominant rebounder and natural fit next to Karl-Anthony Towns. Without him, the Knicks’ defense changes drastically, if not by scheme then by virtue: Ariel Hukporti got the start in place of Robinson but struggled and only played 10 minutes.
“It’s about next man up and whoever goes down, with the versatility of this team, we’re able to plug people in at any given time, and we’re not gonna change what we do just because somebody’s out or down or whatever,” Brown said ahead of tipoff on Sunday. “We’re gonna keep doing what we do, and we’re gonna try to get really, really good at it so that we can impose our will on our opponents as opposed to the other way and we’re trying to chase everything they do.”
Jalen Brunson finished with a game-high 37 points on 14-of-26 shooting from the field, and Mikal Bridges added 20 more points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 shooting from downtown. But the Knicks shot 15-of-54, or 27.8 percent, from deep as a team, and the Heat shut the door on a last second rally late in the fourth quarter, poetically through a contested transition three from Andrew Wiggins who helped swing momentum back in Miami’s favor in crunch time.
And without McBride, the Knicks’ bench mustered just 21 points — right on pace with their average from last season — to 44 from the Heat.
Norman Powell scored 29 points for Miami, and Bam Adebayo added 19 points and 13 rebounds, as the Heat shot 13-of-37 from downtown. Two fewer makes than New York on nearly 20 fewer attempts.
The Knicks will attempt to right their wrongs in Milwaukee next. They face Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks on Tuesday before completing their three-game road trip in Chicago against the Bulls.
