Knicks Struggle in Loss to Heat
MIAMI – Mike Brown has frequently noted that the Knicks’ defense is more developed than their offense. Unfortunately, that showed in their 115-107 defeat on Sunday.
The defense left much to be desired. But even worse, the offense was quite lackluster. Aside from Jalen Brunson, there wasn’t much going on.
The game slipped away in the latter part of the third quarter and into the fourth. As Brunson took a seat, the Heat went on an 11-0 run. The Knicks found themselves scoreless for over four minutes.
By the time Brunson was back in at the nine-minute mark, he seemed out of it, and so were the Knicks. Though they briefly trimmed the lead to single digits later, it proved too little, too late.
With just 1:20 remaining, Andrew Wiggins landed a crucial three-pointer for Miami.
This marked Brown’s first road game, and it couldn’t have started worse. The Knicks struggled, shooting only 38.8 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from beyond the arc. Brunson managed to rack up 37 points but needed 26 attempts to get there. Meanwhile, Karl-Anthony Towns had a tough night with just 15 points in 31 minutes, missing six of his eight three-point attempts.
Josh Hart again appeared hesitant with his shot, making only five field goals in 22 minutes, while one of his three-point attempts was way off.
Norm Powell led the Heat with 29 points.
Brown had previously stated during the preseason that he might opt to pull players early in garbage time, but that didn’t come to fruition this time.
At one point, the Knicks were down by 18 in the fourth quarter, but they managed to stay competitive enough to keep their coach engaged.
With Miles McBride absent due to personal reasons—reportedly a family death—Ariel Hukporti stepped into the starting lineup for added height.
However, Hukporti went scoreless in 10 minutes on the court, which didn’t help. McBride’s absence was notable as the backup unit only managed to score 21 points, including a disappointing performance in the third quarter.
Adding to the woes, league officials mentioned that the Knicks had a rough night’s sleep after arriving in Miami around 2 a.m., considerably delayed due to a medical emergency involving the flight crew.
