Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 132-125 loss to the New York Knicks (20-8) on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden to close its three-game trip at 1-2. The Heat (15-14) now returns home to host the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday:
The Heat’s rough patch continued, as it has now lost seven of its last eight games after a strong 14-7 start to the season.
The Heat led by as many as 10 points in the first half behind its own hot shooting, making 9 of 20 (45 percent) threes in the first half.
But the Knicks still managed to enter halftime with a 66-62 lead because they were even hotter, shooting 12 of 21 (57.1 percent) on threes in the first half. Jalen Brunson led the charge with 27 points in the first two quarters for his highest scoring half of the season.
While the Heat hung around the rest of the way, it never could regain the lead. The Knicks led for the entire second half, pulling ahead by as many as 11 points behind Brunson’s season-high 47 points and a 20-of-28 (52.6 percent) three-point shooting display.
Despite the Knicks’ barrage of threes, the Heat still managed to make it a possession game down the stretch.
After the Knicks went ahead by nine points with 4:49 left in the fourth quarter, the Heat scored seven unanswered points to cut the deficit to just two with 3:12 to play.
But the Heat could not complete the comeback.
Instead, Josh Hart scored at the rim, Mikal Bridges hit a three-pointer and Brunson made three free throws after a Flagrant 1 foul by Heat guard Norman Powell on a wreckless closeout. As a result, the Knicks scored eight unanswered points to build their lead back up to 10 with 44 seconds left and close the door on the Heat.
Even in a loss, Heat second-year center Kel’el Ware again put together an eye-opening stat line with 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 shooting from three-point range and 19 rebounds on Sunday.
Norman Powell added 22 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. contributed 23 points for the Heat, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Knicks’ stellar shooting display.
The Heat continues to miss starting guard Tyler Herro.
Herro traveled with the Heat with the hope of making his return at some point during the three-game trip. But he missed all three games and has now missed six of the last seven games with what is being labeled by the Heat as a “right big toe contusion.”
“No, it’s part of the process,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said before Sunday’s game when asked if it’s disappointing that Herro continues to miss games. “He’s working diligently as well. And as soon as he can get back to feeling like he can move the way he wants to move, he’ll be back out there.”
Herro has already underwent two MRIs since hurting his toe during the Heat’s loss to the Mavericks in Dallas on Dec. 3. Both MRIs showed a toe contusion and nothing more, according to the Heat.
The only game that Herro has been available for since injuring his toe came in the Heat’s Dec. 9 NBA Cup loss to the Orlando Magic, and he needed a Toradol shot before the game to play in that contest.
Herro, who also missed the first 17 games of the season because of offseason ankle surgery, has now missed 23 of the Heat’s first 29 games this season.
Herro is averaging 23.2 points per game on 50.5% shooting from the field, 40.5% shooting from three-point range and 92.3% shooting from the foul line in his six appearances this season. The Heat is 3-3 in the six games that Herro has played in.
Along with missing Herro, the Heat was also without Nikola Jovic (right elbow contusion/laceration), Pelle Larsson (left ankle sprain), Terry Rozier (not with team) and Jahmir Young (G League) against the Knicks.
The only Knicks players unavailable on Sunday were Miles McBride (left ankle sprain) and Landry Shamet (right shoulder sprain).
But the Heat did get back starting guard Davion Mitchell and starting forward Andrew Wiggins back from injury on Sunday.
Mitchell (sprained left ankle) and Wiggins (lower back pain) both missed Friday’s loss to the Celtics in Boston, but their absence only lasted one game.
Mitchell finished Sunday’s loss with 13 points, two rebounds and eight assists in 31 minutes.
Wiggins closed with seven points, five rebounds and four assists in 24 minutes.
With Mitchell and Wiggins back, the Heat went back to the starting lineup of Mitchell, Norman Powell, Wiggins, Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware on Sunday. It marked the fifth game this season that Miami has used this starting group, posting a 3-2 record in those games.
Ware continues to impress as an efficient three-point shooting 7-footer ... and rebounding.
After shooting 6 of 7 from three-point range in Friday’s loss to the Celtics to set a new NBA career high for three-point makes in a game, Ware stayed hot on Sunday against the Knicks.
Ware, 21, finished Sunday’s loss with 28 points on 5-of-7 shooting on threes while grabbing 19 rebounds. Not only has Ware shot 11 of 14 (78.6 percent) from behind the arc over the last two games, but he has also grabbed double-digit rebounds in four straight games.
Ware has now recorded a double-double in three straight games and has 12 double-doubles this season.
While it’s come at low volume, Ware has been one of the league’s most efficient three-point shooters this season.
Ware, who is in his second season, entered Sunday shooting 31 of 68 (45.6 percent) from three-point range this season.
Among the 218 NBA players who entered Sunday with at least 60 three-point attempts this season, Ware’s three-point shooting percentage ranks seventh. And among the 32 centers around the NBA who have put up at least 60 threes this season, Ware ranks first.
Even with the Heat getting some players back from injury on Sunday, rookie guard Kasparas Jakucionis remained in the rotation after his quality performance in Boston.
Jakucionis had logged 53.7 seconds in the NBA through the Heat’s first 26 games of the season. In fact, he spent much of the first two months of the season in the G League.
But the Heat’s injury issues created an opportunity for Jakucionis to play in the first two games of the Heat’s trip, as he played his first meaningful NBA minutes in Thursday’s win over the Nets in Brooklyn and then made his first NBA start in Friday’s loss to the Celtics in Boston.
Jakucionis showed off his intriguing skill set in his first NBA start, totaling 17 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range, six rebounds and four assists in 36 minutes in Friday’s loss to the Celtics. He also posted a plus/minus of plus 3 in the 13-point defeat.
That was enough for the 19-year-old Jakucionis to remain in the Heat’s rotation for Sunday’s game against the Knicks, even with Mitchell and Wiggins back in the mix.
Jakuconis didn’t start on Sunday, but he was part of a four-man Heat bench rotation that also included Jaime Jaquez Jr., Dru Smith and Simone Fontecchio.
Jakucionis, who was selected by the Heat with the 20th overall pick in this year’s draft, was quiet on Sunday with two points and two rebounds in 12 minutes. He shot 0 of 3 from the field and 0 of 2 from three-point range, scoring his only two points at the foul line.