Category: Sports News

Facing the Miami Heat for the second time in the season’s first 12 games, Knicks head coach Mike Brown knew what he was going to get from Erik Spoelstra’s team Friday night at Madison Square Garden. And he knew what his team had to do to weather the storm in their first game without Jalen Brunson.

“We have to do a better job of guarding the basketball,” Brown said ahead of the NBA Cup matchup. “A lot of the quote-unquote top teams in the league, if you look at it, give up the most threes per game because they’re shifting and protecting the paint because it’s easier to score in the paint than outside the paint, so we’re no different. 

“When you play a team like Miami, they really put a premium on you guarding the ball first and then your shifts being in the right position and making sure you’re able to get out to shooters to be the second jumper. We’re getting better in that area, but tonight’s another test for us to see where we’re at because of the uniqueness of how they play in that regard.”

“And more importantly than that: Their transition is unbelievable. They just keep coming at ya, keep coming at ya, keep coming at ya, whether it’s a make or a miss. And so we have to do a fantastic job with our transition defense for 48 minutes because they’re capable of putting up 150 points in the blink of an eye.”

After 48 minutes on Friday, the Heat poured in 132 points, with 48 points coming in the paint, and Miami connecting on 19 of 44 (43.2 percent) of shots from behind the arc in a game with a blistering pace, with seemingly a majority of the Heat possessions resulting in a shot in under eight seconds. But it was Brown’s team that came out victorious, thanks to 39 points from Karl-Anthony Towns and 36 points from Landry Shamet off the bench, and on an off-shooting night, seven steals from Mikal Bridges.

“Fun game for the fans, probably,” Brown said after the 140-132 final. “It was almost like a glorified pick-up game with good spacing… on both ends of the floor, and both teams were just hooping.

“They’re so hard to guard, they just catch the ball, they snap drive, they put their head down, and as soon as they feel contact, they almost explode into you.”

Brown then took his glasses off to examine the stat sheet more closely, “This is the first time we won a game where a team shot 30+ free throws. It was extremely hard to keep them off the line.”

“Wasn’t great tonight defensively. None of us were,” Shamet said after his career-high scoring night. “We didn’t guard like we are accustomed to, but that’s a credit to them, too. They drive the ball at you every single possession; it’s hard to guard. Credit to them. We definitely gotta be better, I gotta be better on that front. 

“Taking pride on that end of the floor, shots aren’t always gonna go in, can’t control that all the time. So we gotta be a team that’s gonna win games defensively… so, that’s gotta be the constant.”

Josh Hart, who added a triple-double (his first of the season) with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists, was the team's player of the game on defense, Brown said, in part because he went 4-for-4 on 50/50 balls.

"We won the possession game barely, and we needed every one of those 50-50 balls that he came up with," the head coach said. "So heckuva job by Josh, getting a triple-double tonight."

A new wrinkle on the night saw New York go to a zone defense, something they went to after losing defensive stopper OG Anunoby for the night to a hamstring injury midway through the first quarter. Brown said that was done without total preparation.

"We were having trouble guarding them off the dribble, and so we just wanted to try and junk up the game, give them a different look, see if we could get them out of rhythm a little bit," he said. "You think that it worked, but I don't know, it's a good team, and Spo is a great coach. They missed a few out of it. We gotta do a better job rebounding it.

"But the reality is, we worked on the zone one day, and it wasn't the zone that we used tonight. We kinda just threw that together, and our guys did, not a great job, a helluva job of responding and reacting to the zone that we called on the fly."

A quirk in the schedule means the Knicks won’t have to wait long for their next matchup: they play the Heat in their next game on Monday night in Miami. Brown’s plan will be similar. 

“We gotta keep trying to guard the ball better by showing our hands and hopefully they don’t get these calls the next time we play ‘em,” he said. 

The Knicks went into Friday's NBA Cup game against the Miami Heat short-handed after Jalen Brunson (ankle) was ruled out for the game. New York was down another starter when OG Anunoby left early with a hamstring injury, putting the bulk of the offensive pressure on Karl-Anthony Towns.

But while KAT did his thing -- scoring a game-high 39 points -- it was the bench, especially Landry Shamet, that stepped up to help the Knicks beat Miami, 140-132.

"It’s about the next man up. Who that next man is going to be, I don’t know," head coach Mike Brown said after the win. "There’s no way I could have told you these guys were going to score the ball the way they did, or Josh [Hart]get a triple-double. A lot of things I couldn’t tell you. We have a standard that we all bought into and all embraced and a way we play offensively and defensively, and if we stay within that, good things will happen most times."

New York's bench outscored Miami, 75-39, led by Shamet's 36 points, a new career high for the guard. 

The 28-year-old guard credited Brown's system for the team's success on offense on Friday -- and, really, all season -- saying it brings out a connectivity between the players that makes scoring easier.

"It could be any one of us any night, we were just playing within our system," Shamet said of his performance. "Sometimes shots find you, we all play aggressive and benefits everyone. It helps when KAT has a massive quarter like he does, and that makes a lot more opportunities when so much attention in the second half is on him. Just playing off one another, and it found me."

Shamet's previous career-high was 31 points, which he's done twice, but on Friday, he showed his full arsenal of offensive tools.  He was incredibly efficient, shooting 12-for-19 from the field, including 6 of 12 from deep. He made all six of his free-throw attempts, grabbed two rebounds and had three assists. He cut to the basket and even posterized one of Miami's big men to get the MSG crowd on their feet, and chanting his name.

"These fans know I love them," Shamet said of the crowd and the chanting. "I’ll say that till I’m blue in the face, love it. Love the energy every night. Cup game on a Friday, it’s as good as it gets. It was very fun."

Interestingly enough, Brown admitted that it was his coaching staff that pushed him to keep Shamet on the floor in the second half. When the Heat clamped down on Towns, who scored just eight points in the second half, Shamet and the others took advantage. Shamet scored 30 of his points in the final two quarters to help put the Heat away.

But Brown wasn't surprised by Shamet's performance on Friday. He saw Shamet's tape from last year and was impressed with his shooting, defense and ability to cut to the basket. 

"People can sleep on him if they want, but if you think of him at Wichita State, he was a point guard then and was extremely athletic," Brown said of Shamet. "He will dunk on you in a heartbeat. It’s not just about his shooting, and he’s making great decisions." 

It was a magical night for Shamet, who has provided Brown with much-needed depth off the bench so far this season. And now with the availability of Brunson and Anunoby up in the air, Shamet and the rest of the bench's contributions will matter more than ever. 

But Shamet stays prepared. Knowing he may potentially get more minutes with Brunson out didn't change his approach and, in fact, he didn't even know he was having a 30-point half while it was happening. It's a part of the mentality that Shamet says this Knicks locker room instills and will continue to have as the year goes on.

"That’s what makes this group special, have a lot of guys that care about winning. Whatever it takes," he said. "We had Jalen out, lose OG early there and we got contributions from across the board from everyone. It’s the mentality we have to have and will continue to have. It’s next man up. A lot of teams talk about this, but this group really embodies it and will continue to."

LeBron James is making progress in his return from injury and trending toward a return to the lineup, and that's a good sign for a Lakers team in search of something positive while on a five-game trip that has had mixed results.

James has been working all week back in L.A. trying to get healthy from sciatica on his right side that has sidelined him all season.

Before the Lakers' 118-104 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, Lakers coach JJ Redick said James took part in an individual workout on Friday following consecutive days of five-on-five practice with the South Bay Lakers.

The Lakers finish their trip against Milwaukee on Saturday night. James will then practice with the Lakers on Monday. If all goes well, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer could make his season debut and start his league-record 23rd season Tuesday against Utah at Crypto.com Arena.

Read more:Lakers can't keep up with Oklahoma City and are routed

When he does return, how will James, who turns 41 next month, adjust to the chemistry the Lakers have established with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves at the center of the offense?

“I've certainly thought about it,” Redick said about how James' return will affect the team. “The reality is, next week will be a great week for all of us to assess where we're at and figure out what we want to work on. It's rare that you have one game over the course of a week, so probably will think about it more then. But typically when you're playing every other day, you're using your time until 3 a.m. to review the game that you just played and then using the time the next day until 3 a.m. to get ready for the next game.”

Last season, James averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists last season, while shooting 51.3% from the field and 37.6% from three-point range.

Lakers players don't think James' return will cause any issues.

Jarred Vanderbilt said James “can bring an element that we need, essentially, knowing that he can provide that.”

“I know it’s probably tough,” Vanderbilt said. “But even just the integration, trying to integrate himself as a player, as a team midseason is kind of tough. But we’re excited for his return, whenever he comes back, and I know he can provide exactly what we need for this team.”

Reaves (31 points, seven assists) gave the Lakers what they needed to improve to 2-2 on this trip.

“I think we just played harder (and with) a little more attention to detail,” Reaves said. “We executed our game plan a lot better.”

Read more:How one aspect of Rui Hachimura's game reminds JJ Redick of Michael Jordan

Doncic (24 points, 12 assists, six rebounds) gave the Lakers what they needed in a game that gave them a 2-0 record in NBA Cup games. He had 20 points and nine assists at the half. It was the second time Doncic has recorded at least those two stats in a half this season, making him and Reaves (once) the first Lakers to accomplish that feat since the 1996-97 season.

Deandre Ayton was a force for the Lakers inside with 20 points and 16 rebounds. Trey Murphy III led the Pelicans (2-10) with 35 points and six rebounds.

His teammates lauded his play, but Ayton was more concerned about the Lakers getting a win in Milwaukee to finish the five-game trip with a winning record and to take the sting out of the loss at Atlanta to open the trip and the blowout loss at Oklahoma City on Wednesday.

“This has been a hell of a road trip,” Ayton said. “The best way to do it is to finish off these two road games strong as hell and get back to L.A. and regroup. But we have unfinished business and, yeah, we’re trying to wash away those two Ls, man, with a good win tomorrow.”

Etc.

Lakers rookie Adou Thiero, who has been out all season recovering from left knee surgery, was activated but did not play against Pelicans. Redick said he hopes to give Thiero some playing time against the Bucks.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.