Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Karl-Anthony Towns’ big night leads to Knicks win in Kaseya Center

The Heat gave up a close game at home to the visiting Knicks without much work from Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. Tyler Herro maneuvered where he wanted and downed eight 3-pointers. Yet the defense failed in the second half. The team’s record is now 2-2.

Herro’s early rampage carried the crew as he logged 14 points on five of six baskets- breaking into the lane on the dribble and nailing deep shots- plus recorded three helpings. Defensively, the squad allowed nine of 20 buckets, and  Adebayo picked up two fouls- one by boneheadedly biting on Towns’ pump-fake- and Thomas Bryant had to replace him.

On the other side, Karl-Anthony Towns scored on a face-up play against Nikola Jović in the post and made two trays. The rest of the Knicks supplied four of 12 looks in the frame.

Adebayo came back into the game two minutes into the second quarter and went back to guarding Towns until he picked up his third foul. Offensively, he only produced on the receiving end of a transition lob.

Butler joined the party, dribbling into the paint for a seven-foot shot and tallied an inside jumper on the catch. Dru Smith’s defense bothered the ball in transition and the half-court. And Herro swished two extra trifectas.

Miles McBride and Towns kept the Knicks in the match. The former swished two 3-pointers and dunked on the break. And the latter finished on rim rolls and post-ups, outplaying Butler and Adebayo.

The Heat led 58-52 at halftime and outrebounded the Knicks by two. Additionally, the crew had 22 paint points, five on the break, three via second chances, two off turnovers and 20 from the bench. Herro had 20 of the team’s 58 digits 

The Knicks had 18 interior marks, four in the open court, five on extra tries, four off turnovers and 10 from  McBride on the reserve unit. Towns had 24 of the Knicks’ 52 points. 

Then Adebayo came out scoring six points in the first two minutes of the third quarter, making four freebies and blowing by Towns in the left post for a two-handed dunk. He was later guarded in the frame by OG Anunoby. Defensively, he successfully disrupted Towns in the post and covered all spots.

Herro added two 3-pointers and set up Jović in the corner on a drive-and-kick play. The latter also was defended by Jalen Brunson and, on one play, dusted his matchup for a baseline score.

But the rest of the team contributed three of 14 makes and the zone was deployed late in the quarter as the defense began to slip.

For the Knicks, Brunson hit two 3-pointers, made two freebies and finished a reverse layup on a pick-and-roll set with Towns. Mikal Bridges added eight points and denied Jaime Jacquez Jr. at the rim. And Towns added six extra digits to the scoreboard.

The fourth quarter started with the Knicks ahead 87-80.

Towns kept hurting the Heat, dribbling to the paint on fruitful face-ups from the perimeter and post, plus bothered Adebayo’s jumper in the lane. Bridges broke the zone with a corner shot. And Brunson buried a step-back 3-pointer over Terry Rozier on the right wing and pierced the zone for a basket.

Herro connected on his seventh and eighth trays plus handed out two dimes, including a gorgeous lob to Butler on a pick-and-roll set. But #14 didn’t have enough help.

The Heat yielded by giving up a backdoor cut to Josh Hart with under three minutes left to go down eight points.

The Heat lost 107-116 and were outrebounded by two. The team had 38 paint points, five on the break, 11 via second chances, four off turnovers and 21 from the bench.

Herro had 34 points on 12 of 20 attempts, with five rebounds, seven assists, one steal and one turnover.

Rozier put up 16 marks on 36% shooting, with four rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two turnovers.

Butler scored 15 digits on six of nine tries, with four rebounds, four assists, two steals and four turnovers.

And Adebayo tallied 11 points on 43% accuracy, with three rebounds, four assists, one steal and one giveaway.

The Knicks had 42 interior marks, seven in the open court, 13 on extra tries, 11 off turnovers and 12 from the reserves.

Towns notched 44 points on 17 of 25 makes, with 13 rebounds, two assists and two giveaways.

Brunson had 22 points on 33% shooting, with two rebounds, nine assists and one turnover.

And Bridges recorded 17 points on 37.5% accuracy, with three rebounds, six assists, two steals, two blocks and a turnover.

At the postgame presser, Herro said Towns was a handful. “He caught a rhythm early, and he was able to sustain that throughout the whole game. I think we could have done a better job of putting bodies on him, making things tougher.”

Rozier said the team has to “get Bam [Adebayo] the ball, something that I got to be better at.”

The Heat will not practice on Halloween.

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