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It Takes Twos! Brunson-less Knicks Cool Heat With Barrett Showcase

One of RJ Barrett's finest efforts of the season allowed the New York Knicks to gain some valuable ground on the Miami Heat on Thursday night.

Geoff Magliocchetti

On a night when Jalen Brunson was unavailable and Julius Randle became an All-Star for the second time, RJ was the New York Knicks' MVP.

A 30-point effort from RJ Barrett more than made up for the missing point guard and allowed the Knicks to avoid a three-game losing streak with a 106-104 victory over the Miami Heat at Madison Square Garden. With the win, New York (28-25) earned a crucial win over the team that currently holds the sixth and final automatic postseason berth in the Eastern Conference, taking the first of four meetings over their 30 games.

With his offensive output, Barrett became the fourth player in the NBA to reach 30 points while shooting at least 0-for-5 from three-point range (a bizarre but illustrious group that includes LeBron James, Luka Donćič, and Ja Morant).

With Brunson available due to a non-COVID illness, Randle backed up his All-Star nod with a 23-point, 10-rebound double-double (pairing with six assists and three steals) while Quentin Grimes earned 17 on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. Isaiah Hartenstein tied for the team rebounding and stealing lead with Randle with 10 and three respectively off the bench.

For Barrett, Thursday provided redemption he was held out of the final 11-plus minutes of Tuesday's narrow loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. He took full advantage of the late minutes afforded to him, shooting, more or less abandoning his outside game for driving efforts that earned him 20 points in the second half, shooting 9-of-11 inside the arc. 

With the Heat (29-24) clad in their throwback uniforms reminiscent of their 1990s aesthetic so loathed by Manhattanites, a retro battle of relentless defenses ensued in the first half, with the Knicks holding a 51-48 lead at the half. New York scored the first 11 points of the third with Barrett accounting for nine tallies in that span before Miami retook the lead with a 19-4 stretch of its own. 

The Knicks' bench, forced to go without medically-induced starter Immanuel Quickley (in the opening five for the ill Brunson) helped build a nine-point lead primarily through the outside efforts of Miles McBride and Obi Toppin. Double-figure efforts from Randle's fellow All-Star Bam Adebayo (14) and Tyler Herro (10) over the final 12 minutes set up another thrilling final minute for the Knicks, who appeared to have the game sealed on Hartenstein's dunk that sent the Garden into hysterics. That gave the Knicks a five-point lead with five seconds to go.

But much like the Knicks and Heat's postseason showdowns in the 1990s, not everything was as it seemed. A quick triple from Max Strus narrowed the gap to two, however, and Miami had an outright chance to win the game when a coach's challenge turned an Adebayo foul on the inbound into a Randle turnover with just over two seconds remaining. Herro earned a clean look in the corner but his would-be winner clanked off the rim and allowed MSG to exhale. 

Adebayo led all scorers with 32 points while Herro had 25. Their first chance for revenge comes on March 3 when New York hits up South Beach. 

A busy weekend now awaits the Knicks, who now face the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night (7 p.m. ET, MSG) before Philadelphia visits on Sunday.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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Geoff Magliocchetti
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI

Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks

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