MIAMI (AP) Hassan Whiteside scored 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Josh Richardson added 21 points and the Miami Heat rolled past the New York Knicks 110-87 on Wednesday night.
Rodney McGruder added 19 points on only eight shot attempts and Goran Dragic scored 13 points for the Heat, who outscored New York 76-38 in the middle two quarters.
Miami scored 45 of those points in the third quarter, tying the third-highest scoring period in franchise history. The Heat made 8 of 10 shots from 3-point range in that quarter, actually doing better there than they did from 2-point range in those 12 minutes – going 7 for 10.
Damyean Dotson scored 20 for New York, which got 14 from Tim Hardaway Jr. and 13 from Mario Hezonja. The Knicks were outscored 24-0 from 3-point range in that pivotal third quarter, missing all eight of their tries from beyond the arc.
There was no sense of the Heat-Knicks rivalry from years gone past. After the final horn, Knicks coach David Fizdale – a former Miami assistant – lingered on the court and hugged several Heat coaches and players, with Dwyane Wade getting his last embrace. Wade presented Fizdale with one of his jerseys, leading to yet another hug.
The 22-point margin of victory matched Miami’s fifth-largest ever against New York.
The only good stretch for New York all night was late in the first quarter. The Knicks outscored Miami 14-0 in the final 2:33 of the quarter, a run sparked by back-to-back 3s by Hezonja and Dotson.
That put New York up 27-16 after the first. After that, it was all Heat for much of the rest of the night.
TIP-INS
Knicks: New York didn’t make a free throw until early in the third quarter. The Knicks were 0 for 2 from the line in the first half. … Emmanuel Mudiay (ankle) remained sidelined, and has yet to make his 2018-19 debut. Courtney Lee (neck spasms) was also out. He missed six games last season; he’s missed five already this season.
Heat: Duncan Robinson, whose college career started at Division III Williams before he wound up at Michigan, got his first NBA minutes – and made his first shot, a 3-pointer. … Miami has trailed by double digits in three of its first four games. The lone exception was last week’s win at Washington, where the biggest deficit the Heat faced was nine points. … The Heat outscored the Knicks by 25 points in the third, matching the sixth-best score differential in a quarter in franchise history.
BANNER RETURNS
Tim Hardaway Sr., the father of the Knicks guard and one of three players to have his Heat jersey number swaying from the rafters in Miami, was at the game. So was former Heat forward Chris Bosh – who helped the Heat hang two NBA championship banners, four Eastern Conference title banners, and who will have his jersey retired by Miami at some point. And Jason Williams, the point guard from Miami’s 2006 champions, was also in the crowd. Bosh came on the court postgame, and got hoisted in the air by Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.
GAME 2
Ashley Moyer-Gleich was one of the officials assigned to the game by the NBA. It was the second regular-season game for Gleich, who remains a non-staff official. She and fellow non-staff official Natalie Sago made their debuts on Monday.
UP NEXT
Knicks: Host Golden State on Friday.
Heat: Host Portland on Saturday.
