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The best way I can describe this game is *fart noise*. Miami jumped out to a big lead almost immediately, and though the Knicks cut it to 5 by halftime, New York came out of the locker room completely flat, as they are wont to do. From there, the Heat slowly added to their lead (a small run by the Knicks late in the third and early in the fourth notwithstanding); the gap reached a game-high 19 points with 52 seconds remaining. As Mike Breen noted in his postgame hit, the Knicks didn't lead for a single second of this game. Hell, it was never even tied after 0-0. Here are a few things to look at:
- Kurt Rambis continues to punish Kristaps Porzingis for any perceived transgression, no matter how small, so he played only 22 minutes. He did do this though:
Porzingis isn't going to prom, but he's hosting a block party in MSG. (via @danfavale) https://t.co/vODkp5CJCn https://t.co/po8NzlS1TM
— SB Nation NBA (@SBNationNBA) February 29, 2016
- Langston Galloway started in place of the injured Arron Afflalo and didn't do much, but he yammed one off a Jose Calderon miss:
REPLAY: @LangGalloway10 with the emphatic putback jam! #NYKvsMIAhttps://t.co/1mcBTlwzvz
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 29, 2016
- Robin Lopez had yet another nice game, including 8 points in the first quarter:
The #Knicks end the 1Q on a 10-5 run to cut the Heat's lead to 23-19. @rolopez42 w/ 8p. #NYKvsMIA pic.twitter.com/TGNPdO347r
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 29, 2016
- Carmelo Anthony didn't shoot well (9/24) and played a ridiculous 41 minutes, but he had 4 assists. Here's a nice one to Derrick Williams!
REPLAY: @carmeloanthony hits @DWXXIII & he finishes at the rim! #NYKvsMIA pic.twitter.com/6SQ8wLMneF
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 29, 2016
Honestly, that's pretty much all of the cool plays that the Knicks made tonight. Yes, there were only four of them. The Knicks stink. This would all be more palatable if Kristaps were playing more and Melo weren't playing way too much in games that've gotten out of hand, but we'll just have to continue looking for silver linings. Stingy's cooking up your recap at this very second. But don't read it. Stingy stinks and so do all of his words.