Josh Hart didn't have to say anything.
He gave him lots of gardens to scream about it.
Following a brutal scoreless effort in Saturday's defeat in Golden State, after Hart featured a scream with coach Tom Thibodeau, Knicks fan favorites reminded us why Monday's 116-95 victory at Madison Square Garden produced the eighth triple double of the season.
Finishing with 12 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists, four steels and one block, Hart tied Knicks legend Walt Frazier for a triple-double single-season franchise record.
Returning from a five-game West Coast trip, The Knicks (43-24) won their third win in the last four games and gave up the heat on a 41-15 third quarter beatdown to open the first game of five straight games against the sub.500 team.
Mikal Bridges scored a game-high 28 points in 10-14th shooting, while Karl Anthony Towns added 23 points and seven rebounds.
The Heat (29-39) fell in their eighth game – losing the last four games averaged over 20 points – and now it's 4-15 as a nasty farewell with Jimmy Butler was confirmed in a trade with Golden State.
Initially, the Heat appeared to be good at handling Butler's absence. The Knicks didn't have Jalen Brunson, who missed his fifth straight game with an ankle injury.
Miami opened as an attacker and played with confidence from the group that knocked the Knicks from the playoffs two years ago.
The Heat scored the first 12 points of the game. He scored an eight from Duncan Robinson. Duncan Robinson surpassed the combined output of the previous two games as the Knicks advanced more than four minutes before scoring the first point.
Their deficit rose to 13 at the opening hours of the second quarter.
The town then took over and transformed into all the big names Scouts began spitting as New Jersey teenagers.
After scoring two points in the first quarter, the five All-Stars revived the crowd after a slow start with a 15-0 run with 3 minutes and 12 seconds.
Following the first dunk in 29 footer, the town ruled both inside and outside.
After Hart found another dunk transition town, the town returned to the boundary line and excavated a back-to-back 3 to give the Knicks their first lead 33-31, leaving 7:30 in half.
However, the town didn't score again before the break – and the Knicks tried two free throws in the first half – Tyler Hero scored 16 points, giving Miami a 49-47 halftime lead.
The momentum changed forever as the Bridges ran 7-0 and rose Nick in double digits in the second half.
The defense did the rest and finished with 12 steals, keeping Miami at 6/23rd three-point shooting.
“They've been protecting,” said heat coach Eric Spoelstra. “That's what we're talking about now, and we hold the team down every night.”
