Josh Hart tied a franchise record with his eighth triple-double of the season on Monday night for the host New York Knicks, who overcame a slow start to rout the reeling Miami Heat, 116-95.
Hart finished with 12 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists, matching the mark set by current Knicks broadcaster Walt “Clyde” Frazier in 1968-69.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 15 unanswered points early in the second quarter as the Knicks erased a 13-point deficit. It was the longest stretch of unanswered points by a New York player since Mike Sweetney scored 12 straight points against the Boston Celtics on Nov. 6, 2004.
Mikal Bridges then made a run at Towns’ mark by scoring nine unanswered points to extend the Knicks’ lead to 64-54. The guard finished with 15 points in the third quarter, during which New York outscored the Heat 41-15 to turn a two-point halftime deficit into an 88-64 lead.
Bridges ended with a game-high 28 points for the Knicks (43-24), who improved to 3-2 since Jalen Brunson was lost indefinitely with a sprained right ankle. Towns finished with 23 points while Miles McBride and Mitchell Robinson had 10 each.
Duncan Robinson had 22 points for the Heat (29-39), who raced out to a 12-0 lead before suffering their eighth straight loss and falling to 4-15 since trading Jimmy Butler. Tyler Herro scored 20 points while Bam Adebayo (12), Davion Mitchell (12) and Kel’el Ware (10) also reached double figures.
The teams were tied four times following Towns’ run before Adebayo’s old-fashioned three-point play put the Heat ahead 42-39. Miami expanded its lead to five points when Robinson opened the second half with a 3-pointer, but the Knicks began their decisive surge when OG Anunoby and McBride hit consecutive 3-pointers to put the hosts ahead for good.
–Field Level Media
