Despite a late scare from Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks, the Miami Heat earned a 115-107 win in their home opener Sunday evening inside Kaseya Center.
Back-to-back Norman Powell buckets put the Heat up 18 with 6:10 left. The Knicks quickly cut the deficit to five — 110-105 — with 1:32 remaining. But unlike last year, the Heat were able to hold off the late-game surge and walk away with a win. A good contest in transition from Nikola Jovic, which immediately led to a left-handed lob to Bam Adebayo in transition, spiked the lead to 10 with under 30 seconds left, all but icing the Heat’s second victory of the season.
Powell continued his robust start to the season, and impressed the Heat faithful in his Kaseya Center debut with Miami. He scored a team-high 29 points on 7-of-15 shooting and 3-of-6 from 3-point range, adding seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. He also sank all 12 of his free-throw attempts, consistently generating paint touches in the halfcourt.
Bam Adebayo notched his second double-double of the season with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Miami’s bench played a huge part once again, more than doubling up the Knicks’ second unit (44-21). Jaime Jaquez Jr. continued his torrid start, attacking the rim, tallying 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting with five rebounds and five assists; Simone Fontecchio continued his hot shooting, knocking down three triples en route to a 14-point night; Nikola Jovic’s shot wasn’t falling, but still dished out five dimes with five rebounds, playing sound defense and making an impact.
This is a big win for the Heat, who didn’t quite push the pace as much in Sunday’s eight-point victory due to their inability to generate live-ball turnovers. While it scored 20 points off turnovers, Miami’s seven steals were a season low up to this point.
While Brunson had a miraculous 37-point night, the Heat held the Knicks to 38.8 percent shooting and just 15-of-54 from 3-point range. Mikal Bridges had 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby had 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Miami’s eight-point win handed the Knicks their first loss of this young season. Meanwhile, the Heat elevate to 2-1 and will host the young Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. EST.
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Good comments everyone. I think we are all seeing a lot of the same things and are showing some sophistication in not over-reacting. But, last night had to give you a jolt of hopeful optimism against exactly the kind of team that we had so much trouble with last year. I think it’s fair to say we are better this year, but maybe we won’t know if it’s just by a little or a lot until ten games have been played. Till then, keep tuned.
It’s always good when we beat the Knicks. Like many have said, this is a fun team to watch. If they can maintain this style of play they will not be a play-in team. 😛
Miami’s second unit may be one of the the best in the NBA.
Bench scoring tonight: NY 21 Miami: 44
Also some interesting stats…
• 5th in Points Per Game
• 1st in Rebounds Per Game
• 5th in Steals Per Game
• 3rd in Defensive Rating
• 3rd in Net Rating
• 1st in Pace
Very early but yeah they’re looking good. We are happy 😆
Impressive stats
I was wary of Clarkson giving their bench a push, thankfully did not happen. Preseason is little by little being forgotten. Winning does that. We all do hope this new look Heat continue on of course with Ws that goes with the pace. Yey we’re above .500 😜
I said it elsewhere: I’m waiting until we’re 10 games in before declaring a new normal. But this is certainly promising. So far we’ve got a close loss to a likely playoff team, a blowout win against an okay team, and a statement win against one of the favorites to win the conference. And it feels like we’ve still got another gear we can shift into. Most of our rotation players are not the best versions of themselves yet. Let’s hope they all get there, and do so at the right moment.
It’s starting to look more and more like last season was an aberration caused by Jimmy turning into a toddler, Terry’s whole… thing, and Erik’s divorce. Jimmy’s gone, Terry’s arrested, and Erik seems like he’s just doing a lot better overall. With those three things mostly behind us, at least as far as the locker room is concerned, I’m looking forward to seeing what our ceiling can turn into.
Good points ma’am Emily! Hope to see you more here. Jimmy Toddler! Love that lol
Good points Emily. I know it’s quite early, but this team reminds me of those teams from the past who had such good chemistry and a very strong will to win, they exceeded everyone’s expectations. As examples, 1969 Mets, 1969 Jets and 1980 U.S. Hockey team did not have the most talented teams the years they won. The had the most determined ones.
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent”…
u sure your not from ny
Not a New Yorker but married to a Greek girl from Brooklyn if that counts.
referencing 69 mets and jets was wondering y when theres been 100s of team like that over da years how bout ultimate overchievers the perfect team
That Dolphins team was stacked. I was referencing blue collar lunch box underdog teams who surpassed everyone’s expectations.
I want to stay on the ground. This is still a gap year in my opinion.
Its a star driven league. We don’t have any, but a lot of really good players.
But this team is really fun to watch.
powells an unknown star.hes borderline ss
I hope Miami signs him to 3 year extension for $77M sooner than later. Dude is a closer and foul magnet like quitter for half the price. 12-12 free throws last night.
and doing it w/o duncan
Simone going to help folks forget him.
Run like rabbits, that’s the game plan. And it pays off.
NY players were done at the end.
Great game by literally everybody. We can argue, that Niko, Ware, Bam, Wiggins were average or bad, but each of them impacted the game at some point.
JJJ, Simone, Pelle, Mitchell, Dru were good, but Powell awesome.
What a player.
You are on target about Jovic, Ware, Bam, Wiggins. Wiggins made a clutch 3 when the Knicks were storming back. Jovic also hit a couple of late big 3s along with some great passes and lobs. Bam and Ware hit 3s. Bam diving for the ball and calling time out also came at a critical moment.
Exactly. Looking at numbers, none of them have great night. But they contributed to that win. Ware got some important rebounds also.
Our second unit led by JJJ and Simone, Dru was excellent. First unit was led by Powell, who assumed the role of the main offensive weapon. He can create for himself, he can score, always aggressive. He helps us tremendously, because apart from Tyler we do not have such players and we would be struggling against good defenses. NYK undoubtedly has one of the best defenses, so it was a great test.
I also like the fast pace, but what I like the most is how the second unit has performed so far. Especially JJJ and Simone, I have to admit that I didn’t have high expectations. I knew they were solid players, but they have played excellent so far. And Dru is so important for us.
And I like Bams leadership too. Maybe it wasn’t his best game in terms of effectiveness, but I like how aggressive he has played.
Also Wiggins maybe did not have the best game, but he scored and provided great defense in the most crucial moments of the game.
It’s been fun watching the Heat so far and this is what most of us wished for. We have a deep team and we still have Ty and Kasparas.
I did expect something from Simone. He played really well at Euro. About JJJ, I had hope, but I didn’t expect much. He is playing great right now.
Unfortunately I only saw one game of Italian team and it was a very bad one. I don’t remember which game it was, but I think he went scoreless in the first half and missed a lot of shots. So I didn’t have high expectations. But he has been playing so well. And JJJ has been playing like he wants to win the 6th man of the year.
Great game, since we won, of course! Knicks are good, so this was a great test. Norman Powell is f’n awesome. Jalen Brunson is, too. Jaime and Bam were really fun to watch. And what about Simone Fontecchio… Loving it. Davion Mitchell, too… Team is fun to watch. Great game. This win makes me feel really good about the team but not trying to take the Kool-Aid to the head, just yet. This was a home game, and we surely would have lost it last year. Need a little more validation but loving what I’ve been seeing.