Heat Face Knicks At MSG Aiming For Third Win On Four-Game Trip
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NEW YORK (CBSMiami) – The Miami Heat wrap up their four-game road trip facing a hated rival for the second time in as many nights.
Miami was embarrassed on Tuesday by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Cleveland Cavaliers but can still call the trip a success if they can beat the New York Knicks tonight at Madison Square Garden.
A win on Wednesday would give the Heat three out of four on the road and send them back to South Florida with a winning record.
Miami (10-10) and the Knicks (10-10) currently sit tied for ninth place in the Eastern Conference, a half-game back of a playoff spot.
New York enters the game having lost three straight contests, the latest coming on Monday when they fell 103-91 to Portland.
The Knicks are expected to get center Enes Kanter back in the lineup after missing three games with a back injury.
Kanter caused some trouble from the bench on Monday, telling teammates to fight some of Portland's players and offering to pay any fines that players may incur.
Shortly thereafter, Michael Beasley and Frank Ntilikina were handed technical fouls after getting into a scuffle with the Blazers' Jusuf Nurkic.
The following day, Kanter expressed remorse for his comments and said that Knicks management had reprimanded him.
"The front office told me I cannot say stuff like that," Kanter said. "It's a learning process. This is my second language. When I say fight, it means compete. Play hard. Compete. [If] you get a tech, you get a tech. They told me I cannot say stuff like that. I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry, NBA. My fault."
GAME NOTES
- Heat rookie Bam Adebayo shot a perfect 7-of-7 and scored a career-high 19 points during Tuesday's loss in Cleveland.
- Miami has won each of their last six visits to Madison Square Garden.
- Knicks star forward Kristaps Porzingis is averaging 24.3 points over his last four games.
- After scoring at least 20 points in three straight games and being named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week, Heat guard Goran Dragic was held to just seven points on 1-of-5 shooting Tuesday in Cleveland.
