First Half:
The shorthanded Heat and Knicks both struggled to score early, going scoreless for the first minute. New York would get it together early to go up six, while the Heat offense looked anemic briefly. Thankfully, Powell and the Heat picked up the pace and found their rhythm to take the lead off a 7-0 run.
It was Ware who stood out early, clearly listening to the words from former teammates Udonis Haslem and playing with a ton of aggressiveness.
The Knicks didn’t roll over easily, though, putting together a 7-0 run themselves to steal back the lead and keep the seesaw in motion. It was Jaquez who’d assert himself with some impressive scoring to put the Heat up by five to end the first quarter.
The Knicks opened the second quarter strong with Clarkson and Hart cutting the lead to one. Shamet would continue his hot shooting to steal back the lead, and more added scoring by Clarkson to cap off a 9-0 run allowed New York to take the lead back.
The Heat struggled to score from three, going 5/17 despite some good open looks. Ware cleaned that up a little bit, and in doing so sparked the Heat offense to once again switch the lead in Miami’s favour. The lead changes continued with Miles McBride and the other Knicks role-players all playing key roles, but the impressive play by Davion Mitchell and Jaime Jaquez Jr. kept things incredibly close.
Norman Powell struggled in the first half after many impressive outings. He had only four points in the first half. Davion Mitchell would allow the Heat to retain a four-point lead to end the half as he scored 10 points in the half to lead the Heat to an 11-3 run and maintain real momentum.
Second Half:
Powell was aggressive to start the second half, driving the lane on multiple possessions. Miami really picked up the pace to start. Unfortunately, Miami’s defense was weak initially, allowing Mitchell Robinson to do damage in the paint.
It was all Pelle and Norm to start the second half, with their offensive push being very welcome. Mitchell Robinson was a real problem for Kel’el, tying things up for the Knicks. On the other end, the Knicks’ zone was trouble for a lot of Heat scorers, notably Andrew Wiggins.
Bridges and Hart were huge thorns in Miami’s side as they scored on some impossible looks and disrupted the Heat on the defensive end to get up five.
Despite being in striking distance, Miami really struggled against the Knicks’ zone, but some much-needed scoring by Wiggins and Dru Smith. The Heat were able to leverage the well-timed threes by Smith and a big look by Jaquez Jr. to take a one-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Shamet would help the Kicks take the lead to open the fourth, but a collective effort from Smith, Jovic, and Fontecchio kept the Heat in the ball game. Miami’s inability to guard the paint put them in the passenger seat, though, with McBride and Towns all scoring easily inside.
With the Heat faltering, Spo called and timeout, and Mitchell and Powell responded, sinking some tough buckets to keep Miami ahead by an incredibly small margin. With Mitchell surging, it opened up some opportunity for Ware, helping Miami close out a 10-0 run to go up seven with just under 4 minutes remaining.
Ware would slam it home, and Powell would hit a huge three that rattled the Knicks. New York would attempt to close the gap and get within two, giving them a shot to win the game. A huge block by Ware on Towns kept the Heat alive, but an ill-timed goaltending call that was reversed gave New York one more chance if they won a jump-ball. Chaos would ensue after Towns won the jump-ball, but the Heat would escape by the skin of their teeth and protect home court.
***
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I love beating the Knicks!!! And we did it with wiggy,jovic, and Norman playing bad. This scrappy, tough, never say die miami team is so fun to watch. Our twin-headed pg’s Davion and dru was pivotal to this win, especially Davion coming up clutch in the 4th, and playing his best game of the year. Can’t forget dru shooting stroke looking good. Also the Italian stallion helped out with his gravity, and 3 point shooting. The Swedish swish is developing at a good rate, and plays like a heady vet, not bad for a 2nd rounder. Lastly WAREWOLF was a monster, and his motor is improving. Double double monster on the boards with 3 blocks. He is a special and one of kind player for this team. Sidenote: I gave him a fist bump before I left, and his size is really intimidating.
Win or lose, this is a much more exciting regular season Heat team than it ever was while the quitter was here. They are a very team oriented, unselfish and tenacious group of players. They also don’t Q-U-I-T!!!
P.S. Speaking of quitters, the Warriors will be in town on Wednesday.
team oriented unselfish def but u know who will be back soon that narrative will change unless herro changes his game which is hard to do for a player.
I don’t think Herro is a selfish player. I also believe his style of play fits with what they are doing. Now, as for his defense………
and ⬇️
His adjustment should be no more difficult than it has been for the rest of the team. After all, he is an all-star who is looking for a contract extension so I’m sure he’ll adjust his game.
I have a feeling he was always meant to be part of a run & gun offense. He sure is built like it. The only thing that held him back was Spo’s half court offense which was centered around the quitter.
With Herro back and playing point guard, I’m hoping to see the Heat run some teams off the court.
Agree! This team has built a solid nucleus. Plug in just one A+ or A player, and we will be a true contender again.
No Jimmy wish I could give him a boo
how do u get the most out of ware when bams gonna get 30 plus minutes.bams not blocking that borderline goaltending he was at least 2 feet above the rim for that block.hes the closing thing to wemby in the nba.hes def not as good but very similar body wise and playing wise.
They have to make it work. It seems Ware has turned a corner and we need him out there. And, as I’ve mentioned before, he needs to get 30 minutes a game
Miami is the #1 scoring team in the NBA and has eight (8) players scoring in double figures:
Only two rotation players are scoring under 9 points per game, Jovic and Smith.
Amazing
Great team win! Good games by Larsson, Ware, Mitchell, Powell, Fontecchio, Jaques and Smith. All seven scored in double figures. Wiggins had an off night and Jovic continued to play the same way he has all season long, not very well.
I was particularly impressed by Ware’s performance. He has the potential to be a very good player; he just needs to make up his mind he won’t accept anything less.Powell, Jaquez, Mitchell, Fontecchio, Smith and Larsson continue to exceed expectations.
During the entire game, I was thinking: “Just how good can/will this team be with the return of a healthy Bam and Herro, plus the addition of a legitimate third rotation big?” Someone able to defend and rebound would probably do the trick. A “Mitchell Robinson Light.”
Although it is early in the season, there are several teams that already appear headed to the lottery. They are: Charlotte, Washington, and Indiana in the East and Utah, Sacramento, and New Orleans in the West. Several of the six teams (and a few others) are well stocked with front court players. With a little work, I like Oscar Tshiebwe of Utah (G League) Moussa Diabate and Antonio Reeves (G league) of Charlotte and Karlo Matcovic of New Orleans.Riley should be able to find a team that wants to make a deal on or after the unofficial start of the trade season (December 15).
Jovic looks like a fish out of water, struggling to find his place on the team and his most effective style of play.
His head is somewhere between where Jaquez and Rozier were last season. He has lost his “mojo.”He’s also stuck in the mindset that he is best suited as a point forward/wing type of player, (ala Jaquez and Powell) when the team instead needs him to be a PF who is more focused on defense and rebounding.
In addition to seeing a sports therapist, I think it would do him a world of good to go down to G League for a couple of weeks to get his game and his confidence back. Right now, he is working himself into fewer and fewer minutes, then eventually to the end of the bench. Before that happens, Sioux Falls seems like the best possible alternative. With any luck, he could be back with his head and game together about the same time as Herro returns, or a week or two later.
Miami is only 1.5 games out of second place. Heat’s next game is vs Warriors on Wednesday, followed @ Bulls on Friday, @ 76ers on Sunday and Mavs on Monday.
(A 3-1 stretch would be great! 4-0 would be even better!!!)
GO HEAT!!!
please jovic is not a pf not a c not a sf not a 2g hed love to be a pg but to tall and slow.hes lost in space in the usa.man has skills more suited for european ball.it happens the game here is much faster than in europe.pelles game more suited for here.overall jovic is more skilled than pelle.just doesnt translate over here
We have 9 out of ten players in the team playing great ball, close to their capabilities. And there is Nico, lost is space.
There were 10 or so players on last Euro playing great there, one of them was Nico. 9 of those ten players, like Jokic, Greek, Luka, Markannen, Pelle, Avdija, Wagner, Sengun, Simone all continue to play at incredibly high level in NBA. All except Nico.
I think he is perfect for NBA, as all the others from Europe.
I m still not worried.
If nothing else, JJJ was the same kind of mess last year. And look him now.
nikos been here long enough what does he do well what position is he?
He can play everything from 1-5, but nothing of that well. So its this god or bad? It is bad right now, but players like Jokic, Wemby or greek can also play everything….. well. Maybe we should wait a little to see if he can come closer to those.
I think a (significant) part of the problem is that he has been asked to play center or power forward position. And also he is suffering from Bam’s absence. He doesn’t get many open looks and is forced to drive to the basket while the defense contests those shots. So far, he has been struggling especially when guarded by taller and athletic defenders. He lost his confidence and his decision making is not good. In theory he should be well suited for our fast pace offense..but obviously it’s not working.
Maybe there is a position he plays, maybe there are players surrounding him. JJJ takes the ball and rim drives, Simone takes 3p shots. Dru takes playmaking, Wiggins takes posting.
So he is there as a big body, occasional facilitator, rebounder and replacement center. He sucks in everything.
Basically, the odd man out. He is playing just because he is high enough to looks like a frontcourt player and there is nobody else closer to that.
But he is a quality player, I m convinced that sooner or later he will be paired with Bam or Ware (preferably, because they good together) and contribute those 15/5/5 a game.
There are those numbers 😉
That is exactly right. Nicobstill has a chance.
So true, the other European players are all doing quite well.
The same person who totally threw Jaquez under the bus last season – he sucks, waive him, bust – who now is totally enamored with him. The same person who said we got the wrong Mitchell, he’s too small, maybe he will not play hard now that he got his extension. The same who bad-mouthed Wiggins and Pelle. Will you ever learn? Probably not.
Ha! You forgot to add that he knows more than Spo. 🙂
I know who you’re talking about but I also dissed Jaime and I was wrong. Everything else you said I was on the right side of but not JJJ. And that is why I continue to have hope for Nico, but they are dimming., He should go to the G League and go thru sink or swim conditions, possibly return after a good stint down there. .
The truth is, and remains, Jovic is our weakest link, as his ratio of bad plays to good is probably under .500, and you can’t say that about anyone else but Keshod. In fact, no other player, other than Keshod, is probably below three good plays to one bad one so he is clearly the most ineffective of the regular rotation players on the team. His handles are quite suspect, nowhere near average. He has trouble driving but occasionally gets in there. He did have that one excellent game and a couple of fairly good ones, but he has also had about seven or so games that he was decidedly ineffective. These are all great players who can get hot or in a zone (like Caleb Martin) but one great game amongst so many not so great ones doesn’t give the team enough. I want the best for him too but he is still a project and I agree the G League is his appropriate next step to continue evolving his game.
great to always beat a ny team .jets giants rangers etc f them all go miami.when bam and ty come back gonna be interesting the minutes and who closes
What a game! We split with both Cleveland and New York. Not too shabby.
We may start seeing more zone defense as it did slow us down. It’s harder to get downhill when we can’t attack before the defense is set.
That’s true, but they started figuring it out as the game went on.