5️⃣ The absolutely horrendous from New York
We went over what the Heat did well, but the game didn't end on a good note for the Heat. After allowing Chicago to come back a few nights earlier, the Heat outdid themselves -- in a bad way. They were outscored 29-11 in the fourth quarter at Madison Square Garden, where the Heat looked like they were just waiting for the final buzzer.
- First action with Bam up top. Sees Quickley trailing on the play and gets the ball to Martin, who shoots a contested jumper. Not much movement to create the shot and a hasty dcision from Caleb.
- The Heat get the offensive rebound, Caleb finds Bam. Four players just looking, Adebayo opts to go for a long, contested jumper, creating zero problems for the Knicks defense.
- The Heat actually push the pace and find Richardson on the wing. Little action with Bam, Hartenstein and Barrett stay with Richardson and he decides to go for a weird left-handed finish with Hartenstein on him rather than finding the open Adebayo.
- Running a pick-and-roll with Bam, Richardson ignores his center and goes the other way, deciding to turn with the defense still not collapsed on him. He doesn't see Bam cutting behind Hartenstein and then sees Caleb way too late, when DiVincenzo has already recovered.
- Another Richardson-Bam pick-and-roll, this time the ball gets to Adebayo on the free-throw line. He has three players around him and Highsmith one pass away wide open. He opts for the contested jumper.
- Hart takes away the pick-and-roll option with Bam, so Jaquez attacks middle. He passes to Highsmith, who swings to Martin, who has an open shot. He decides to put the ball on the floor to escape the closeout but dribbles one too many times and loses the advantage. Martin has Jaquez open inside since Hartenstein is not leaving Bam, but shoots the contested shot anyway.
- Almost four minutes without a point for the Heat. Late clock, Bam can't connect with Richardson, hands off to Lowry and leaves, with Lowry now in isolation with four seconds left against Quickley. Pull up 3 into a block.
- Butler already in, attacks Barrett's spot in isolation, finds Richardson in time for Barrett to recover his position. Eight seconds on the clock, with the Heat accomplishing nothing so far in this possession. Richardson attacks going middle, Bam goes that same way and now the lane is clogged. Turnover that turns into a 3 on the other end.
- Richardson has the ball at the top late in the clock and is looking for the Butler post-up. The ball gets there with 11 seconds on the clock and Butler goes for a contested pull-up with only Knicks around the basket.
- Good decision from Lowry, asking Richardson to vacate his spot and let Adebayo work. He takes a tough jumper after the spin instead of attacking Hartenstein, but surprisingly this isn't a bad shot compared to the rest of the quarter.
- Pick-and-roll between Lowry and Bam with six seconds on the clock. Lowry misses the early pass to Adebayo and the open pass to Jimmy in the dunker spot immediately after. With little to no time to decide, he finds Jaquez for a difficult corner 3.
- Again, six seconds to go on the shot clock and the Heat are going for their action. Bam jabs, gives a shot fake to get Hartenstein in the air... and chooses a step-back contested jumper while everyone else is looking.
- Late in the clock before they start any action, Lowry screens for Butler who get the ball n the corner. Lowry comes for the pick and roll, Quickley stays with Butler, Lowry slips with an open path to the paint. Butler decides to take a contested 3.
- Lowry screening for Butler again, who now comes off a curl. One dribble into a pull-up with two players contesting. Jaquez and Bam standing around on that side, Lowry wide open on the other.
- Knicks in front, the Heat are completely lost. Richardson pushes pace, dribbles around, goes back out and finds Jaquez, who takes his turn dribbling around in the same area before taking a contested turnaround jumper. Butler, Bam and Lowry are completely uninvolved and frankly, a bit lost.
- Heat down three and desperate. They get the ball to Butler, Lowry comes to set the screen. Butler ignores him and goes the other way. The defense comes to help, so the decision is to go for yet another contested step-back. Bam was right there, open in the paint.
Unlike the third quarter, the fourth quarter featured uninspired, forced offense, with no real plan besides letting time pass and the hopes of making tough shots. A game that was in the Heat's hands got away without much fight.