Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat overpowered by Knicks at Madison Square Garden

There have been few shooting displays like the one the Knicks exhibited in New York since Paul Castellano got whacked in front of Sparks Steakhouse. The victims were the Miami Heat, outhustled on the glass by 14 and, at one moment, going down 22 points.

The visitors rushed to a 13-4 lead on a Jimmy Butler putback and triple, plus two 3-pointers from Tyler Herro and a jumper from Terry Rozier. Yet the Knicks chipped away at the advantage by breaking the zone from long range, piercing its heart and getting past defenders in man coverage.

In the second quarter, the Knicks’ defense cracked down on the Heat, contesting, switching and helping on time. Herro couldn’t finish at the rim against the extra man, or make a right-wing triple over Donte DiVincenzo or successfully score facing Josh Hart going to the cup. Rozier attempted an imprudent turnaround with seven-footer Isaiah Hartenstein on his back and misfired in front of drop coverage at the nail. Duncan Robinson bricked three trifectas.

In the second, the unit was held to 28.6% shooting. However, the one thing that worked for the Heatles in the frame was its fastbreak attack, showering the Knicks with multiple threes, layups from Butler and Rozier, and an Adebayo putback. Jaime Jaquez Jr. denied Anunoby’s dunk, setting up the break on the possession Adebayo scored.

The Knicks closed the first half on a 10-0 run behind two wing triples inflicted by DiVincenzo, Randle blowing past Butler from the top to the cup for two, and a layup by Precious Achiuwa.

At halftime, the Heat was down 51-61, with 18 fastbreak points, eight off turnovers and six via second chances. Butler had 13 on the scorecard on five of 10 shots with three boards and a dime. Adebayo collected six points with eight rebounds. And Robinson had 10 on the scoring ledger.

The Knicks had zero points on the break and after turnovers but had six from second tries while battering the Heat on the boards by 12.

In the third, New York’s Jalen Brunson went at Rozier, then forced a switch to get Herro in front, canning a 3-pointer in his face. He also dished out four assists. Julius Randle scored on the break, shot over Butler from 10 feet out, connected on a tray and buried four freebies.

On the other side, Butler went HAM. He boat-raced everyone down the floor, ripped the ball from Anunoby’s grasp, taking off for another fastbreak layup, beat the same man off the dribble from the outside in for a deuce and maneuvered past Randle and Hart. At one point, the squad was down 13, but his efforts, when below eight, revived the Heat and brought it to within three entering the fourth period.

Through three quarters, Butler logged nearly 29 minutes and played all of the third. Coach Erik Spoelstra gave him and Kevin Love a rest to start the final sequence, inserting Herro and Robinson. But before Butler could get back on the court, the Knicks regained a 13-point edge with eight minutes left.

Herro and Martin were the only ones to register multiple field goals late for the Miami squad. The rest of the players were held to five of 13 makes. Meanwhile, the Knicks plunged through the Heat’s defenses, converting 72.2% of tries in the last 12 minutes.

Brunson successfully hoisted over Martin’s length at mid-range, seized the baseline for a floater over Adebayo, made a pull-up banger and pivoted past Butler for a hook. Anunoby dunked on the break and hit a jumper from mid and long range.

With under five minutes to go, Randle drew a blocking foul on Jaquez in transition but crashed hard on the ground, hurting his right shoulder when he tried to brace the fall with his right arm. He left for the locker room after he got up.

The Heat lost its sixth game in a row 109-125. It racked up 12 second chance points, 25 on the break, 15 via turnovers and made 46.6% of attempts. Butler had 28 points with eight rebounds and four assists. Robinson, off the bench, was the next scoring leader with 19.

The Knicks had 11 fastbreak points, eight from additional opportunities and 12 after turnovers. The hosts also recorded 51.7% of ventures.

At the postgame presser, Spoelstra said, “Right now we’re going to rally around each other, rally around our identity. It is a tough time right now.”

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