The Knicks dropped their first road game of the season, falling to the Miami Heat 115-107 on Sunday night at the Kaseya Center.
Here are some takeaways…
– With Miles McBride sidelined for personal reasons, head coach Mike Brown turned back to his Opening Night starting lineup, sliding young big man Ariel Hukporti back in with the usual group of Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Karl-Anthony Towns.
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– The Knicks’ early season offensive struggles carried into their third game, but they were spearheaded by the dynamic duo of Anunoby and Brunson to close the opening quarter with the lead. Anunoby (8) and Brunson (13) combined to produce 21 of the team’s 27 points through the first 12 minutes.
– New York was doing a good job of cleaning up the glass and tacking on second-chance points, but they struggled from behind the arc, shooting just 23 percent from three-point land in the first half. Miami has a strong surge late in the second quarter, helping them carry a three-point advantage into the break.
– Brunson had just two points in the second after his big first quarter, and he came out surging in the third. The captain could not miss coming out of the locker room, adding 12 more points to his total in the opening minutes of the third to help keep pace in a back-and-forth battle.
New York also started seeing more buckets fall from downtown, knocking down their first three threes of the quarter.
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– The Knicks finally received some secondary scoring from Bridges and Josh Hart with Brunson resting midway through the frame, but Miami came storming right back. Led by Jamie Jacquez Jr., the Heat carried a 14-0 run over the closing minutes of the third and opening of the fourth to open up their largest lead of the game.
– Miami continued dominating from there with their bench unit leading the way, and they opened a double digit advantage. The Heat had things on cruise control until the Knicks got hot down the stretch, using a big run to cut the deficit down to five, but the late comeback ultimately wasn’t enough.
– Brunson led all scorers with 37 points on the night but didn’t receive much help. Bridges finished with 20 and Anunoby had 14, while Towns pitched in 15 on an ugly 2-of-8 from three-point land. The second unit combined to contribute just 21 points on the night.
Game MVP: Normal Powell
Powell was tremendous all night, leading the team with a season-high 29 points.
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HighlightsWhat’s next
The Knicks continue their first road trip of the season, heading to Milwaukee to take on Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks on Tuesday at 8 p.m.