[Erik Spoelstra] had been tight-lipped for nearly a fortnight as the Heat and the Knicks crashed at one another in an intense series. Everyone had; a hard shell built around a whole team.

Around the whole franchise. That is the 601 Biscayne Way.

[The "Heat" were] nearly whipsawed by a 6-1 tank impervious to all of its defenses...

They were. In the last two games of the series Jalen Brunson nearly tanked through that hard shell. He was. Spo tried everything against him. Nothing worked. 

But it ended in a way the Heat have become accustomed to, played at their pace, and on their terms.

It did. But tanks--or fighter aircraft--can make it very difficult for the "Heat" to play at their pace, chipping away, chipping away, and on their physical, willful terms. This was probably Jalen Brunson's debut as an elite player but there are others throughout the Association who have long debuted and established themselves as elite. One thinks obviously of Steph Curry, the nearest in size and play style to Brunson. When I have followed the "Heat" in playoffs past, what Brunson did in this series reminded me of what Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart did to us last year at this time. Brunson "nearly whipsawed" us in G6; Tatum, Brown and Smart did whipsaw us last May. Time and again the "Celtics" got us out of our pace and off our game. They can flare up so suddenly. Those "Celtic" breakouts are expected now but you never know when they will occur and in that the expected is still unexpected. The "Heat" still have no counter to them. That is the concerning thing to me about Brunson's breakout.

It was close, anxiety-ridden until the end thanks mostly to Jalen Brunson’s unceasing artillery, but it was a win all the same. 

 One could write that the "Heat" "nearly whipsawed" the "Celtics" last May, but it was a loss all the same.

Miami squeezed the Knicks, shrinking the floor and beguiling everyone but Brunson. Yet, it nearly failed anyway. Brunson kept making shots and nothing Spoelstra threw at him worked. They tried to tire him out, after Brunson played all 48 minutes two days prior, and keep the ball out of his hands. They started sending two defenders on him on inbounds passes after some made baskets in the first half, and Vincent hounded him for all 94 feet. In the second half, Miami started sending two defenders at him in the half court too. He still had 41 points in 45 minutes on 14-of-22 shooting.

Brunson befuddled the Heat but just could not do it alone ...They advanced not because he ran out of buckets but because he couldn’t get enough opportunities.

Spoelstra admitted the Heat were powerless to stop him.

Jayson Tatum does not have to do it alone.

 If Brunson was a problem, they’ll soon find out if they face Joel Embiid and James Harden or Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown...

Adebayo stood tall against what had been a dominant Knicks frontcourt...

Well, did he? The mystery to me about Tom Thibodeau's game plan is why he got away from his starting center Mitchell Robinson. Bam is not tall, he's 6'9", Robinson is 7'0". The paint in the first half was dominated by that dominant "Knicks" frontcourt but Robinson played only 29' of the whole game, fewest of "Knicks" starters, and sixth on the team behind Josh Hart, a shooting guard. Bam played 39'. Robinson only had 2 points and Bam had 23 but how many of those points were against somebody other than Robinson? And in ten fewer minutes played Robinson had 11 rebounds to Bam's 9. Robinson had 1 block and his backup, Isaiah Hartenstein had 4 in 18'. Bam had 1 and his backup, Cody Zeller had 0.  

...and New York could not play to its strengths. The Heat drew even with them on the boards...and outscored them 38-20 in the paint and took 27 shots within 4 feet of the rim, while the Knicks took only 12. 

I am a proponent of the boomerang, take your opponent's biggest strength and use it against him. I argued that last night: go right at the "Knicks" interior, something that Jimmy is most adept at; go right at Brunson: put Bam or Kevin Love or Cody Zeller on him and make that 6' 1" artillerist shoot over a 6' 9" or 6' 8" or 6' 11" guy.

"It just shows the determination and the will that this team has."--Bam Adebayo.

It does. What it doesn't show is that they have the artillery, or the shell hardened enough to stop the opponents'.