Heat hold on for harrowing 115-113 bounce back victory over Knicks

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel on Nov 17, 2025

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MIAMI — Erik Spoelstra recognized the meaning of the night even before the clock started.

“At the end of the day,” the Miami Heat coach said in his pregame comments, “the No. 1 thing that we have to do is just figure out how to win a game at the end.”

That they did.

Somehow.

Barely.

With the Heat playing in the injury absences of Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, and the Knicks in the injury absences of Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby, the options for anything decisive on either side seemed limited.

So a clutch game it was, the Heat pushing to a harrowing 115-113 victory Monday night at Kaseya Center.

Punished by both the Knicks’ inside and outside games in a loss three nights earlier in New York, the Heat withstood a Knicks inside game this time lacking an accompanying outside component.

With center Kel’el Ware stepping up late on a night he closed with 16 points and 14 rebounds, the Heat got enough balance on offense to hold on.

The Heat also got 19 points from Norman Powell and 18 from Davion Mitchell.

The Knicks, who closed with 64 points in the paint but shot only .250 on 3-pointers, got 25 points from Miles McBride, 23 from Mikal Bridges and 22 from Karl-Anthony Towns.

5 degrees of Heat from Monday night’s game

— Closing time: The Heat led 25-20 after the first quarter, 55-51 at halftime and 83-82 going into the fourth quarter.

Down one midway through the final period, the Heat moved to a 105-99 lead with 4:40 to play, matching the largest lead to that point by either team, forcing a Knicks timeout.

Ware then stepped up inside with a pair of inside baskets for a 110-102 Heat lead, with a Powell jumper with 3:10 to play producing the game’s first double-digit lead.

But with McBride draining a pair of 3-pointers, the Heat lead was down to 112-108 with 1:46 to play, with a pair of Towns free throws making it 112-110 with 70 seconds to play.

A Powell basket pushed the Heat to a 114-110 lead.

And then a familiar issue, with a Knicks offensive rebound leading to a Towns 3-pointer with 22.4 seconds to play, making it a 114-113 game.

Intentionally fouled with 21.4 seconds to play. Mitchell then made only the second of two free throws, for a 115-113 Heat lead.

A video review then followed for what was called a Ware goaltended on a McBride jumper that would have tied it 115-115 with 13.2 seconds to play.

Instead, a two-point Heat lead and jump ball at center court, with the Heat surviving a pair of Knicks offensive rebounds from there.

— The KAT factor: After he scored 39 against the Heat on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, including 31 in the first half, Towns this time was scoreless in the first quarter on 0-for-4 shooting.

Towns did not score until converting a second-chance opportunity with 7:48 remaining in the second period, which, to his credit, came on his ninth rebound to that stage.

He stood with four points on 1-of-8 shooting at halftime, with his second basket coming 50 seconds into the second half.

Unlike Saturday’s second half, the Heat consistently doubled Towns early.

Towns upped his scoring early in the second half, but then was forced to the bench 4:37 into the third quarter.

But when back on the court, still on a sizable challenge for the undersized Heat, adding 16 rebounds.

— Power void: With Nikola Jovic called for his third foul with 9:46 left in the second period, exactly six minutes into his opening stint, the Heat had little option in their power rotation but to turn to seldom-used Keshad Johnson.

Despite having been recalled from the G League the day after Adebayo went out, undrafted 7-footer Vlad Goldin has yet to see action.

So, instead, with Jovic in foul trouble and Ware taking his first break, it was 6-foot-6 Johnson in the middle against the Knicks’ tall and taller lineups.

The Heat again opened with 6-7 Andrew Wiggins defending 7-foot Towns, on a night Jovic proved largely unplayable.

— The zone factor: Increasingly, the defense of choice against the Heat has become the zone, even by opponents who otherwise do not utilize the approach.

The Knick utilized it successfully Friday in New York and then turned back to it Monday.

That at times turned it into 3-pointer-or-bust for Heat.

Simone Fontecchio kept the Heat afloat in that regard early, with Dru Smith providing the spark from beyond the arc in the second half.

Fontecchio shot 4 of 7 on 3-pointers, Smith 3 of 4.

— And now Jimmy?: Up next for the Heat is Wednesday night’s game against the visiting Golden State Warriors.

The question is whether it will mean the second appearance by Jimmy Butler since last season’s trade, with the game coming on the second night of a back-to-back Warriors set that opens Tuesday night in Orlando.

That also could have an appearance by Stephen Curry in question, with Wednesday night completing a run of three games in four nights for Golden State.

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