New York will try to bounce back from a loss to Minnesota when it travels to Miami on Wednesday night. The Knicks won three straight games last week before falling to the Timberwolves in a shootout on Monday. Miami has won three of its last four games, beating Detroit by 12 points on Sunday.
New York has been a streaky team this season, but it turned the corner in February after sitting just two games above the .500 mark. The Knicks won 11 out of 12 games from the beginning of February to the beginning of March, beating Miami twice during that stretch. They lost three straight games after that before bouncing back with a trio of wins over the Lakers, Trail Blazers and Nuggets. New York had that streak snapped in a 140-134 loss to Minnesota on Monday, despite a career-high 57 points from Julius Randle, including a franchise-record 26 points in the third quarter.
BIG HART ?? pic.twitter.com/h0aiNVciZa
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 21, 2023
The Knicks are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, sitting two games ahead of Brooklyn and three games back of Cleveland in the standings. They were without two starters in their 122-120 win over Miami on March 3, but Randle hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds remaining. He is averaging 33.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists in two games against the Heat. Randle leads the Knicks with 25.6 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game overall this season. Point guard Jalen Brunson leads the Knicks in assists (6.2) and ranks second in scoring (23.8), shooting 83.6% from the charity stripe. New York is 12-4 since acquiring Josh Hart from Portland on Feb. 9, as he is averaging 11.1 points per game with the Knicks. They are No. 14 in the NBA in scoring (115.4) and will be challenged by a Miami defense that is No. 2 (109.5).
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