The New York Knicks closed their season series against the Miami Heat with another loss on Monday night, falling 98-88 to the defending Eastern Conference champions. 

I want to say the New York Knicks fought until the end in this one, never giving up. 

But truth be told, they never showed up, or played hard enough to have anything to defend. 

The Miami Heat came into Madison Square Garden and manhandled our feel-good Knickerbockers, with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo taking turns making Swiss cheese of first-year head coach Tom Thibodeau’s supposed stronghold defense. 

They combined for 47 points and 22 rebounds against New York. For the first time in their last seven games, this Heat team looked the part of defending Eastern Conference champions. 

It was that kind of night for the Knicks. 

From the jump, things looked rough for New York, who didn’t score until the eight minute mark of the first quarter. They started this one 0-8 from the field. 

It was Julius Randle who got things started with this Derrick-Rose-like finish at the rim:

All five starters had missed a shot up until that point. Typically, that doesn’t bode well for a tough opponent like this one, against a Miami Heat team that won two matchups against the Knicks already this season.

RJ Barrett had a nice bucket after the fact, one that would prove a rarity in this one, and his first score out of seven initial field goal attempts:

Randle stayed active in this one, but wasn’t rewarded by the officials, to the surprise of none. He earned his second foul at the 2:34 mark of the first quarter. 

Still, he’s an All-Star, and Tom Thibodeau is a maniac. Randle wasn’t pulled. 

Shortly thereafter, Rose had this noteworthy block on Tyler Herro:

The first quarter ended with just 37 points total scored between the two parties. A defensive standoff was expected, but it’s safe to say the first 12 minutes exceeded expectations. 

New York and Miami entered the second quarter both shooting less than 35% from the field and less than 25% from behind the arc. 

So the second period began, and with that, a continued battle of defensive prowess. Hell, New York didn’t get their first assist until the nine minute mark of the second quarter:

We were rewarded for our patronage of such a tedious experience with this highlight from struggling rookie Obi Toppin, who had the best basket of his brief career at the 7:30 mark:

We haven’t seen him move with the ball like that all this season, let alone convert a bucket like that under defensive pressure from one of the NBA’s top teams. 

Rose and Alec Burks followed that up with back-to-back threes, making for a 16-0 New York run, and one of few bright spots in an otherwise storm cloud-filled evening. 

Oh, and we did get this defining highlights in the RJ Barrett/Tyler Herro discourse:

There’s little to report from the second quarter beyond that, given that it occurred with less than two minutes remaining. The Knicks and Heat both entered the half having shot 4-19 from the 3-point-line, making for a horrid 21% shooting average. 

And on Clyde’s birthday! How rude. 

The second half opened up to a similar rhythm, with Miami getting by on second chance buckets, and New York just not putting the ball in the basket. 

Some impressive play from Nerlens Noel was cut short when he got his fourth foul at the eight minute mark in the third quarter. He had been on the kind of roll that warrants apology forms be printed and signed previously. 

That may have been the turning point in this one.

Randle had some nice buckets in the third, trying to keep New York in it, but even then, it was clear that he was either tired or playing hurt. 

The Heat entered the fourth quarter with an 11-point lead, and seemingly never looked back, with Randle falling short in his attempts at late-game heroics. 

Rose cut the deficit to single digits with less than six minutes to go in the final period, but stellar defense and shotmaking from Miami sealed a loss for New York. 

Notes

• Let any concerns about Rose and his conditioning after the COVID-19 absence be gone. He finished what was his second game back with 16 points in 26 minutes.

• It was an off night for Randle, who looked stiff for what feels like the entire evening. He finished Monday with 22 points, but even his 7-17 shooting numbers feel inflated. Randle’s legs were DNP-Coach’s Decision in this one.

• Immanuel Quickley was the only other Knick to finish in double figures at 12 points. And even he didn’t make it there by way of true efficiency. Quickley shot 4-11, and a large part of those seven misses felt forced. New York needed a spark offensively, there’s no doubt about that, but little can be said about stagnating shot chucking.

• With a shortened big rotation, we didn’t see any Kevin Knox in this one. Surprising, given the nature of the offense, and the Knicks shooting just 10-36 from three. I thought his making it past the trade deadline was a sign of things to come. That still may be the case long-term, but it definitely wasn’t the case in this one.

• New York held the Heat to 98 points on the evening. Their record drops to 11-3 when holding opponents to under 100 points after Monday night’s loss. Still, pretty good.

• “Just 20 years old” RJ Barrett shot 0-4 from deep, continuing a slump that stretches over the last six games, and hasn’t been discussed much among fans. Over that span, he’s shot 8-34 from the 3-point line, equaling out to 23 percent. It seems his shot has regressed, and at the worst possible time.

• The Knicks scored just 88 points. They very well may be the worst offensive team in the entire NBA. Something’s got to give.

• Elfrid Payton played just 19 minutes. As much as fans want to complain about Thibodeau using him constantly, give him credit for recognizing when Payton has nothing to offer on any given night.

• New York walks out of this one tied with the Charlotte Hornets for the Eastern Conference’s fourth seed. 25 games to go...

The Miami Heat walked into Madison Square Garden having dropped six straight, and the New York Knicks walked into this one the winners of three straight. 

To have dropped Monday night’s game, well, it’s just flat-out unacceptable. 

These aren’t the Knicks of recent history. They’re better than that. And because of that, we have to elevate the standard to which we hold them to. Monday night represented the fifth opportunity this season to put together a respectable winning streak, and they squandered it. 

New York hasn’t won four or more straight games since February of 2020. 

With a playoff push looming, losses like these will only become more and more crushing.