Knicks roll past Heat as Josh Hart bounces back with triple-double
Josh Hart #3 of the Knicks drives against Davion Mitchell #45 of the Miami Heat during the third quarter at Madison Square Garden on Monday, Mar. 17, 2025. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Knicks got a win they badly needed.
Coming off a difficult road trip that began with Jalen Brunson injuring his ankle in Los Angeles and ended with coach Tom Thibodeau and Josh Hart getting into a minor dust-up during a loss to Golden State, the Knicks did exactly what they needed to do Monday night at the Garden, crushing a beleaguered Miami Heat team, 116-95.
After going scoreless against Golden State, Hart came up big with his eighth triple-double of the season, finishing with 12 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists, four steals and a block. He tied Knicks legend Walt Frazier for the single-season franchise record for triple-doubles.
Mikal Bridges scored 28 points and Karl-Anthony Towns added 23 as the Knicks (43-24) handed Miami (29-39) its eighth straight loss. The Knicks are 3-0 against the Heat this season, giving them their first sweep of Miami since 1992-93, when current Heat president Pat Riley was the Knicks’ coach.
The Knicks took control of the game by scoring 16 straight points to take an 85-62 lead late in the third quarter. The quarter included a 10-minute stoppage in play after comedian Tracy Morgan, who was sitting courtside, vomited on the court and was taken off in a wheelchair.
Hart secured his triple-double when he hit a three-pointer with a little more than a minute to go in the quarter. After the game, he went over and hugged Frazier, who was working the game for MSG Networks.
“I was just playing my game,” Hart said. “It was cool. You all know me. I can play a style that’s very sporadic. You never know what you are going to get. For me to be in the same sentence with someone like that is nothing but a blessing from God. When I step away from this game, I’m not going to be in that many record books.”
Hart wasn’t the only one with a timely performance. With the Heat leading 31-18, Towns scored the game’s next 15 points in a span of 3:11.
“I just felt we had started off slow and I wanted to add some energy to the game,” he said. “I found myself with the basketball and I just wanted to capitalize on it and be aggressive. I was making shots. I was glad I was able to do what was needed.”
The Knicks are expected to get a medical update on Brunson at the end of this week, but it is anyone’s guess when he will be able to return to the court. Heading into the game, the Knicks had struggled to find their offensive rhythm since he injured his ankle on March 6.
For most of the season, the Knicks’ high-octane offense — they entered Monday averaging 116.7 points, seventh best in the league — has been their calling card. They were averaging 117.2 points per game before Brunson got hurt, but in the first four games since his injury, they averaged 109.0 points, which was fourth-worst in the league in that time span.
Given that it was a home contest against a downtrodden opponent, Monday’s game should have provided the perfect opportunity for the Knicks to get back on track. Miami, still struggling through its post-Jimmy Butler hangover, announced 30 minutes before tipoff that it would play without starter Andrew Wiggins, who had a leg contusion.
Instead of jumping on a down opponent, however, the Knicks struggled early. Miami took a 12-0 lead in the first 3:22, and the Knicks missed their first five shots and turned the ball over twice. They finished the first quarter trailing 29-18 after shooting 7-for-22.
Towns’ personal 15-0 run gave the Knicks a 33-31 lead, and Bridges outscored the Heat 9-0 in a span of 1:05 to put the Knicks ahead 64-54. By the time they went ahead 94-67 with 9:17 left in the game, they had outscored the Heat 76-36 in a span of about 25 minutes.
The Knicks hit the road again for back-to-back games at San Antonio on Wednesday and Charlotte on Thursday. All told, Monday’s game against Miami was their only home contest in an eight-game, 15-day stretch.
“Yeah, that’s the NBA,” Thibodeau said of the road-heavy stretch. “Sometimes it’s in your favor, sometimes it’s not. You just deal with it. Every team goes through it. It’s part of it. If you love competition and you love a challenge, that’s what we sign up for.”
Notes & quotes: In his eighth game since returning from ankle surgery, Mitchell Robinson had 10 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots in 23:44, all season highs.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
