How the Heat’s defense is throttling the Knicks, and what New York says is solution

The Knicks generally did as they pleased offensively against the Heat during their four regular-season meetings, averaging 114 points and shooting 51.9 percent.

But through three games of this second-round playoff series, those numbers have plunged to 99.3 points per game on 42.1 percent shooting. The Heat -- up 2-1 in the series -- has defended with relentless effort and precision, and the Knicks have missed a bunch of makeable shots.

“You got to give them credit, how they have been consistent with guys they have,” said Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, who’s shooting 27.3 percent on threes in this series (6 for 22) after shooting 41.6 on threes in 68 regular season games. “Culture, everything they do. You hear it league wide…. It’s who they are.”

Bam Adebayo set the tone early in Game 1. On the Knicks’ first possession, Julius Randle dribbled repeatedly against Adebayo, but couldn’t maneuver past him and settled for a difficult turnaround jumper that barely hit the rim, a inauspicious start on a night that Randle shot 4 for 15 and 0 for 5 on threes.

So is Adebayo a problem for him defensively?

“I’m not really worried about who it is,” Randle said. “One on one is not really a concern. It’s more about when the defense collapses, being able to make plays. They’re an excellent halfcourt defensive team.”

Heat forward Kevin Love said “it was a beautiful thing to watch [Adebayo] slow down Randle, who can be so physical and so devastating playing downhill and hitting threes.”

Jimmy Butler, meanwhile, has limited Brunson, RJ Barrett and Josh Hart to a combined 8 for 24 shooting in this series, with Brunson 3 for 10 when Butler has defended him, per NBA.com metrics.

Besides doing a good job limiting the Knicks’ damage in the paint, Heat defenders were quick rotating to the open shooter on Saturday.

Defensive contributions have extended well beyond Butler and Adebayo. Consider these overall series statistics, courtesy of the NBA’s tracking data:

▪ Randle and Barrett have each shot 2 for 8 when guarded by Caleb Martin in this series.

▪ Gabe Vincent held Brunson to 3 for 13 shooting in Game 3, and Brunson has shot 6 for 20 against him in this series.

▪ When Kyle Lowry was the primary defender, Barrett, Josh Hart and Immanuel Quickley are a combined 3 for 14 in this series.

▪ Against Max Strus, Brunson (2 for 9) and Randle (1 for 3) are a combined 3 for 12.

▪ Love has been very sound defensively in this series, holding Randle (1 for 3), Barrett (2 for 6) and Brunson (0 for 1) to a combined 3 for 10.

Those numbers tell only part of the story, because they don’t reflect the work of help defenders.

But this is telling: During the regular season, the Knicks were fourth in the league in points per 100 possessions (117). During this series, they’re scoring just 105.3 per 100.

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau says there’s a solution:

“When you penetrate, they’re going to collapse. When we trust the pass, we create good shots. There are going to be two or three guys around you and you have to read the game.

“Drive, pass, pass is the best way to create rhythm. Everyone shares in that responsibility. And we’ve got to make some shots. We didn’t do it.”

The Knicks closed at 20 percent on threes (8 for 40) in Game 3 and are shooting 27.2 percent on threes (31 for 114) in this series.

“We’ve got to work on getting easier shots… and not have to deal with them in the halfcourt,” Hart said.

The Knicks had 40 paint points in the first half of Game 1 but have averaged just 18.4 paint points in each of the five halves of basketball since then.

The key defensively, Love said, is “when they drive the ball, making sure that we’re trapping the box, taking away their middle drives, forcing their guys into tough shots and things they don’t want to do.” The Heat did that brilliantly in Game 3.

THIS AND THAT

▪ Adebayo produced one of his better stat lines of the playoffs (17 points, 12 rebounds) in Game 3, but Erik Spoelstra said that that “probably doesn’t do him any justice in the impact. To be able to take a challenge on a great player like Randle, with limited help, [is impressive].

“The average eye might not realize how dominant Bam’s game was to impact a win. He was dominant. And the shame of it is in today’s day and age, people only view that as dominant if you score 40 points or more or have some kind of gaudy stat line. His fingerprints were all across that win and there’s a way that Bam does it with his efforts, his intensity, that competitive spirit that inspires other guys to do it.”

▪ The Knicks listed Quickley as doubtful for Game 4 on Monday (7:30 p.m., TNT) because of a sprained ankle sustained in the fourth quarter of Game 3. Miles McBride, Derrick Rose and Evan Fournier are options to replace him in New York’s rotation.

The Heat listed Butler (ankle) and Martin (back contusion) as questionable, but both are expected to play. Both played through those injuries in Game 3 but must be listed on the injury report because they received treatment since Game 3.

The Heat listed Haywood Highsmith (left knee tendinitis) and Udonis Haslem (stomach illness) as probable. Tyler Herro (hand fractured) and Victor Oladipo (torn patellar tendon) are out.

Brunson was limping late in Game 3, appearing to re-injure his ankle. But he said afterward: “I’m good. I’ll be ready for Game 4.” He’s not on the injury report for Game 4.

▪ Players downplayed the late third-quarter dust-up when Cody Zeller pushed Randle, Isaiah Hartenstein pushed Zeller and Martin pushed Hartenstein. The sequence began when Zeller and Randle jostled for a rebound.

“I’m gonna protect my teammate, no matter what,” Hartenstein said. “I saw [Zeller] push Julius to the ground and no matter who it is, I’m always going to protect my teammate. That’s what I thought was necessary at that time.”

Randle said the incident was “irrelevant.”

Zeller cracked “It was nothing. We were just making dinner plans. In the playoffs, you might be tired of playing against the same guys.”

▪ The Heat went on a 15-4 run when Spoelstra played five reserves early in the second quarter. Lowry had 14 points, four assists and no turnovers in 25 minutes; he has 16 assists and three turnovers in the series.

“Lowry coming off the bench for them, we’re concerned about that matchup,” Thibodeau said.