Knicks Scorched Early by Heat in 78-95 Loss

95. 110. 78. 27. Final

The New York Knicks fall behind early against the Miami Heat Monday night.

New York led 17-13 midway through the first quarter, and I do not know what Erik Spoelstra said to the Heat in their first timeout but it worked…BIG TIME! Miami went on a 29-4 run to double up on the Knicks by the middle of the second quarter… 21-42!

The Heat led by as many as 23 points, leading 52-30 at halftime. New York was held to 28.6% shooting from the field in the first half. Miami is the third best defensive team in the league, allowing a top three 92.9 opponent points per game. The Heat are a league best 41.1% in opponent field goal percentage, and top three in opponent three-point percentage at 30.8%.

The Heat also destroyed the Knicks with their unselfish play, Miami collected 12 assist on 19 first half made field goals. All nine players that checked into the game, scored in the first half.

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New York fall down by as many as 26 points early in the second half before finally making a run of their own. The Knicks went on a 14-3 run to cut the deficit down to 44-59 midway through the third quarter.

Dwayne Wade though…would not let the Heat lose their huge lead, catching fire by scoring eight straight points to fend off the Knicks. Wade scored ten of his 16 total points in the third quarter. Miami took a 56-73 lead entering the final period of the game.

New York went on a 5-0 run to start the fourth quarter and chants of “Let’s go Knicks” could be heard in American Airlines Arena. Those fans though were quickly quieted as the Heat went on a 7-0 run to push their lead back up to 80-61, just as the Knicks had cut down the lead to a dozen.

New York tried to deploy the Hack-a-Shaq strategy on Hassan Whiteside (50.5% career free-throw shooter) late in the fourth quarter but could get no closer than 12 points. Porzingis even failed to foul Whiteside on one play… and it led to a Goran Dragic layup… Dragic finished the game with 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists.