MIAMI – The Knicks were reminded of last year’s loss due to Jalen Brunson’s struggles. ‘
The Knicks star fell short of his recent best play in Tuesday’s 109-99 loss to the Heat, missing 12 of 17 shots as his comeback fell short.
The Knicks were uncharacteristic in many ways, which is only true when facing Miami in the big game.
They made a sloppy deal.
Despite coming in as the NBA’s best team on the glass, they easily lost the rebound battle, 39-30.
They were overwhelmed and outmuscled.
However, the Knicks trailed throughout (by double digits most of the time) before exploding on a 12-0 run in the fourth quarter, ending the game with a putback by Precious Achiuwa with four minutes remaining. The score was tied at 92 points.
The Heat fought back with a 17-7 run, with Terry Rozier finishing with a game-high 34 points.
The big difference Tuesday was that Brunson, who was a star in last year’s playoff series against the Heat, was on the struggle bus.
Perhaps he was planning on going into a fit after carrying such a heavy burden in March.
He admitted that he was feeling unwell before the match, saying nervously, “I don’t feel the best, but I’ll be fine.”
He then committed five turnovers and missed five of six treys.
The Knicks (44-31) have lost three straight, dropping from fourth to fifth place in the Eastern Conference behind the Magic.
Bright spots for New York on Tuesday were Miles McBride, who chased Rozier on defense while dropping 24 points, Bojan Bogdanovic, who had his best game as a Knick with 16 points off the bench, and added 31 points in the first 35 minutes. It was Donte DiVincenzo. 11 of 21 shots.
Erik Spoelstra’s teams tend to get better in April.
Part of the reason is because Jimmy Butler is coasting through the regular season before turning on his booster when it matters.
And that’s really starting to matter for the Heat (42-33), who are currently seventh in the East and trying to avoid the play-ins.
“Jimmy is kind of doing side quests all year long until about April,” Josh Hart said. “Then he starts to focus. Now that we’ve finished the side quests and gotten into the main quest, I’m sure people are going to see that manic competitive side.”
It was the Knicks’ first game at Caseya Center since losing in Game 6 last year.
And it was a tough start.
After competing MVP chants for Brunson and Butler in the opening minutes, the Knicks trailed by 12 points after the first quarter.
