One Last Look Back...

...before the madness really begins.

GOOOOOOD MORNING! Yes, I’m still riding high, and so should you. The nerves about the next round will start to set in around Saturday at sundown, but until then, let’s enjoy the thing that is there to be enjoyed. That’s going to be the focus of today’s newsletter, and then at some point this weekend, I’ll get out some semblance of a Heat preview to all paid subscribers before Game 1.

Let’s bask in the glow one more time…

One Last Look Back...

Well, it’s the next day, and spoiler alert: I’m still barely able to string together cogent thoughts about what just happened.

For this exact reason, I’ve been taking copious notes during each playoff game. This is something I do during the regular season too, but those are on my phone and usually total around 20 lines for any given night. For the playoffs, I’ve commandeered one of my daughters art pads and have been taking up about three pages per game. She doesn’t get why daddy is doing homework during a basketball game, but as I wrote yesterday, some things are not meant for children to understand.

All that being said, I’m sticking the notes in the drawer for this one. Last night’s game wasn’t meant to be understood, but felt. Yes, the X’s and O’s helped win this series, but our heart (pun intended) won it more.

So here are my final thoughts on Game 5, first to highlight a few stats, then to recognize some players who were outstanding but fell just below the podium, and finally to honor our final Stars of the Game for the 1st round. Let’s do it…

🏀 The first stat comes courtesy of KFS Newsletter reader and patron Saadaab Janab, whose math I am certainly going to trust here:

I did some bleary-eyed totting up of the play-by-play data in bed at 3:30 am and I think the Knicks were only losing for 20.67 percent of the time in the five games in total. More than 75 percent of those minutes were in Game 2. That, in retrospect, sounds like a comprehensive "beatdown", as you guys say.

That’s impressive in its own right. What makes it even more impressive is that the Knicks did it despite being the very worst shooting team in the entire postseason thus far, with an effective field goal percentage of just 48.0. Their best 3-point percentage in any game in this series was 31 percent. They cannot shoot much worse.

So how did they dominate so thoroughly? A 227 to 186 rebounding edge was the biggest part of it, but they also won the turnover battle, 64 to 76, and gained a free throw advantage, 127 to 93. Combine all that with the fact that they held Cleveland to a shooting number almost as bad as their own (51.3 eFG%, 12th of 16 playoff teams), and you get a 4-1 waxing.

🏀 I simply cannot get over the fact that an Immanuel Quickley jumper with 9:21 to go in the fourth quarter was the only shot made from the field in the final period by a Knick other than Mitchell Robinson.

And we still nearly outscored them in the last frame.

🏀 Your leader for both teams in free throw attempts for the series: RJ Barrett with 28. He’s averaging as many free throw attempts per game in the postseason as LeBron James and a hair more than Ja Morant. More on him shortly.

🏀 Mitchell Robinson had as many blocks in this series (11) as Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley combined. More on him shortly.

🏀 With Jalen Brunson on the court, the Knicks had a 115.0 offensive rating, which would rank fifth in the postseason. When he sat, the Knicks offensive rating plummeted to 77.3. That was easily the biggest rating difference of any rotation player on either side of the ball - even larger than the defensive rating differential with Immanuel Quickley on (88.3) vs off (113.1).

Brunson was somewhat of an afterthought in this game given the other massive performances we saw and how much he struggled shooting the ball in the second half, but the die for this win was cast pre-halftime, before New York had completely broken Cleveland’s will. In that first half, Brunson had a game high 17 points on 11 shots. He also played his most spirited defense of any game and in the end, was the leading scorer in the series at 24 points a night.

Yes, even higher than Donovan Mitchell.

🏀 Immanuel Quickley finished the first round shooting just 34 percent from the field and 29 percent from deep. It certainly wasn’t the series he envisioned, but he closed it out strong, totaling 19 points, including three momentum-maintaining threes in the first half and a team high eight fourth quarter points, four of which came from the line late to seal the deal. His defense remained impeccable.

🏀 There’s still no word on Julius Randle after he re-sprained the ankle he injured at the end of the regular season, but the sprain didn’t look quite as severe as the initial injury, so we have to hope for the best.

More importantly, after several games in which some observers (myself included) wondered whether Randle’s poor defense and inefficient shooting was hurting the team more than his overall gravity on offense was helping them, he returned to form with a vengeance. Julius struggled shooting early but had five assists to one turnover in the first quarter and got to the line six times.

Then, when Randle re-entered midway through the second, Beast Mode was fully engaged. After a nice dish to RJ for a 3-pointer, the All-Star started to make Evan Mobley his personal tackle dummy, scoring on three straight possessions, one with more veracity than the last. The key was Julius getting into space as the only Knick on the strong side and then using that runway to keep Mobley on his heels:

This was the last of the baskets. On the very next defensive possession, Randle landed on Caris LeVert’s ankle and crumpled over in pain. After refusing to be helped off the court and walking off on his own volition, Julius eventually went back to the locker room, reemerging for the fourth quarter in street clothes.

Not to get ahead of myself with a Heat preview, but New York will need Randle’s best to have a chance against Miami, and he had perhaps the most outstanding game of his career against the Heat earlier this season. His presence requires Miami to put one of their better defenders on him, whether it be Bam or Jimmy. The domino effect of not having him will be felt significantly.

At the same time, shooting, movement (ball and player), ball-control and quick decision making will be vital in this series. Those are all traits Obi Toppin brings, so perhaps not having Randle right away won’t be the end of the world.

Speaking of Obi…