The Miami Heat played two play-in games and made it to the NBA playoffs as the No. 8 seed.
Now, they’re one win away from the Eastern Conference Finals.
Notably, a lot of that has had to do with their intensity on the glass, as they’ve manhandled and out-hustled the New York Knicks throughout the whole series.
When asked about that following the latest loss, Knicks star Julius Randle admitted that he thinks the Heat just want it more than them, which is why they’ve been able to overpower them on both ends of the floor.
"Maybe they want it more. I don't know. That's who we've been all year and we've gotta find a way to step up and make those plays if we want to keep this season alive"
– Julius Randle on the Heat being the team to come up with offensive rebounds and loose balls pic.twitter.com/wqaJpoAcpj
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) May 9, 2023
Intensity, grit, and effort have been three building blocks of Heat Culture during Erik Spoelstra’s tenure in charge of the team, especially since Jimmy Butler arrived in South Florida.
The Knicks were much better than most analysts expected for the better part of the season, and they looked like a legit contender against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Mitchell Robinson single-handedly took care of business against Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, so one would think he would’ve been able to keep Bam Adebayo off the glass more often than not, but that hasn’t been the case.
Randle hasn’t been fully healthy for this series, and that has also obviously taken a toll on their ability to be as physical as they were in the regular season.
The series will now head back to the Big Apple for a must-win Game 5 on Wednesday night, and the Knicks will need to match the Heat’s intensity and box-out and prevent those second-chance points from being the biggest factor.
NEXT: Knicks Coach Gives Update On Jalen Brunson's Game 3 Status