Bam’s 32 is not enough as the Heat fall to Knicks 106-104

Feb 3, 2023 - 3:19 AM

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First Half:

Decked out in throwback jerseys, the Heat looked to reignite the 90s rivalry vs New York. The Knicks would go up early with Julius Randle shooting well from deep, but Miami would battle back through good midrange and interior play thanks to Jimmy and newly minted 2nd-time All-Star, Bam Adebayo. Still, despite good hustle (nice charge UD!), Miami scored poorly in the first quarter allowing the Knicks to get up to a double-digit lead. Still, they’d get within six heading into the 2nd thanks to a 7-0 run by Strus and co.

Miami slowed down the Knicks enough to get back within one, and would eventually take back the lead off a HUGE Bam slam. This opened the floodgates slightly with Strus getting warm from three, and Miami’s zone limiting New York. New York would chip away, but Miami would keep the offensive pace up thanks to good shooting from Max, Gabe, and Jimmy. Unfortunately, a quick Knicks surge courtesy of Julius Randle would jump the Knicks back to a 5-point lead heading into the second half.

Second Half:

The Heat didn’t score for over four minutes to start the second half allowing the Knicks to go up by 14. With the Heat anemic on offense and porous on defense they found themselves in a deep hole. It was Herro who’d step up though, scoring three straight threes to put Miami in a position to compete. With that, other Heat players got going including Lowry who’d break out of his slump, and just like that Miami was back in front off a 21-4 run. Unfortunately, the Knicks answered back with an 8-0 run of their own to take back the lead.

Haywood Highsmith opened up the scoring for the Heat to start the fourth with a great three, and some Bam and Tyler buckets would keep Miami chipping away. Bam and Herro would attempt to will the Heat to a win with some ultra-competitive play. Bam hit shot after shot to keep Miami in it, and Jimmy got involved to cut down the lead even more. Unfortunately, it became a race against time with the Knicks in the driver’s seat and a questionable goal tend call put Miami in an even more precarious position down by five.

Herro hit his 10th fourth-quarter point at a good time to put Miami within three, and Bam followed that up with a huge steal where he’d get fouled. Bam’s effort cut the lead to one, but the Knicks scored on the following possession and Herro missed his three. An errant pass and miscommunication on defense allowed the Knicks to get up by five with 5 seconds left keeping things just out of reach. Max hit a big three to try and save the game, and the Heat lucked out multiple times getting a chance for Tyler to win it, but it wasn’t enough as a huge Bam performance in MSG was wasted.