NEW YORK (AP) — Tyler Herro scored 25 points, Jimmy Butler had 23 and the Miami Heat overcame RJ Barrett’s career-high 46 points to beat the New York Knicks 115-100 on Friday night.
Kyle Lowry added 19 points in the Heat’s first game after the All-Star break after they were tied with Chicago for the best record in the Eastern Conference going into it. Bam Adebayo finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds.
Miami started a little slowly in the resumption of its schedule, then shut down most of the Knicks beyond Barrett and relied on its balance to run its road winning streak to a season-high six games.
“It makes it fun for us because everybody’s involved, we’re not depending on one person to get us 30 every night,” Adebayo said. “So it’s a beautiful game when we play the right way and we share the ball and everybody gets a piece of the pie.”
With Herro, one of the NBA’s best reserves this season, and Caleb Martin back after being sidelined with injuries before the break, Miami’s bench provided too much depth for a Knicks team that had little besides Barrett.
“It was great to see that unit back together,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Guys are healthy and gave us a really good boost.”
Barrett made six 3-pointers and grabbed nine rebounds in his return from a four-game absence with a sprained left ankle, and his best game as a pro would have been even better if not for 14-for-22 shooting from the free throw line.
He said his career night coming in a loss was bittersweet.
“When you have a night like that, of course you want to have a win, which is the most important thing,” Barrett said.
Julius Randle had 11 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, but shot just 2 for 15.
The Knicks dropped their fourth straight and fell to 25-35. They hoped they were close to getting Derrick Rose back from ankle surgery, only to instead announce he had another procedure on the ankle Friday.
The Knicks jumped to a 10-0 lead while the Heat missed their first six shots, but Herro’s 3-pointer cut it to 32-30 after one quarter. Miami turned a two-point deficit into a 48-38 lead with a 12-0 burst, went up by as much as 16 and settled for a 65-55 halftime lead after Barrett scored 17 in the second.
The Knicks were within one with 40 seconds left in the third, but Lowry made four free throws to make it 90-85 heading to the fourth. Miami then opened the quarter by outscoring the Knicks 11-5, with Herro getting two baskets, to go up by double digits again at 101-90.
New York came out of the break 12th in the East and potentially a team that will transition to focusing on its youth. It was decided this week that Kemba Walker, who had been the starting point guard, will shut down for the season and rest his troublesome knee.
TIP-INS
Heat: Butler was fined $25,000 by the NBA for failing to comply with media availability obligations during All-Star weekend and not complying with the resulting league investigation. … Spoelstra said C Dewayne Dedmon practiced Thursday but his back tightened up, so he didn’t play.
Knicks: Rookie Quentin Grimes left in the first quarter with right knee injury, the team saying it was a subluxation of the right patella. ,,, MSG broadcaster Walt “Clyde” Frazier got a big ovation in the first quarter when he was recognized as the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s Curt Gowdy Electronic Media Award winner. The two-time champion with the Knicks will become the first player inducted in the Hall of Fame as a player and a broadcaster.
DERRICK’S DELAY
Rose had recently begun practicing fully after he had surgery on his ankle in December. The procedure Friday was because of a skin infection. Coach Tom Thibodeau said Rose was in discomfort but not pain, and there was no timetable for his return.
“He actually went through practice pretty well,” Thibodeau said. “So, just one of those things.”
UP NEXT
Heat: Host San Antonio on Saturday.
Knicks: Host Philadelphia on Sunday.
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