Knicks Beat The Heat Then Hornets Randle Hurt

 

By Andrew Rosario

 

 

When the New York Knicks faced the Miami Heat last November which was the start of the NBA in Season Tournament, the rosters were pretty much a mirror image of the teams that faced each other during the last year’s conference semi-finals in which the Heat won in six games. When the two teams played last Saturday night at the World’s Most Famous Arena, there were major roster changes for both teams. 

 

The Knicks jettisoned fan favorites RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to Toronto for OG Anunoby. Meanwhile, Miami sent veteran Kyle Lowry to the Charlotte Hornets for Terry Rozier. At the end of the Knicks 125-109 win over Miami it was clear the team from Madison Square Garden has closed the gap not only from their starters but more importantly from the guy’s that come off the bench.

 

The Knicks got off to a slow start falling behind 17-9 with 4:38 left in the first quarter before head coach Tom Thibodeau called a time out hoping to get his team focused. it worked as the Knicks outscored the Heat 18-13 to cut the to 30-27 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter was all New York as they took a 10-point lead (61-51) as they scored 34 points to the Heat’s 21. Knicks guard Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 14 points while Miami was led by forward Jimmy Butler’s 13 points.

 

Miami and Butler (13 points) would not fold even after they fell behind 82-69 with 3:30 remaining. The Heat closed out the quarter, going on a 17-7 run reducing the lead to 89-86 hoping the momentum would carry over to the final quarter.

 

The Knicks came out the gate quickly scoring 14 points and only giving up 3 as they extended the lead to 100-89 and never looked back. The only negative to come out of the game was the injury to forward Juluis Randle who suffered a dislocated right shoulder as he banged bodies with Miami’s Jaime Jaquez Jr who was looking to draw a charge. Randle went straight to the locker-room to get treatment and see the severity of the injury. Randle was not expected to be in the line-up this past Monday night when the team went on the road to face the Charlotte Hornets.

 

Brunson finished with a game high 32 points, Randall chipped in 19 before the injury and Josh Hart came off the bench to contribute 14. Butler paced the Heat with 28. Miami’s center Bam Adebayo, who normally gives the Knicks fits, was held to only 12 points.

 

Said Thibodeau of the win after, “I thought we played well. I knew we would get their best. I thought they played well. it was a hard fought game. Every time we got away, they came back and I thought we responded really well. We didn’t close the third the way we hope to and in the fourth we responded in a positive way.”

 

After the Hornets game, the Knicks come home and hosted Utah Tuesday night and the Pacers Thursday night. They are keeping their fingers crossed that Randle will not be out for an extended period of time.

 

New York played their first game without Randle Monday night against the lowly Charlotte Hornets and despite not having Randle and OG Anunoby, they came away with a resounding 113-92 victory for their 7^th straight win. Once again, guard Jalen Brunson led the team with 32 points. Mate Dante DiVincenzo kicked in 28 points. 

 

The Knicks hosted the Utah Jazz Tuesday night before the Indiana Pacers took the floor Thursday night. Their is no scheduled return date for Randle.