And the game ball goes to Landry Shamet.
The New York Knicks (8-4) took on the Miami Heat (7-6) at Madison Square Garden tonight in an Emirates NBA Cup game. Before the game, we wondered who would pick up the slack with Jalen Brunson nursing a sprained ankle. We knew Karl-Anthony Towns would have a big game—he finished with a 39-11 double-double, including 31 first-half points. We didn’t expect Landry Shamet to record his highest-scoring game as a Knick (he dropped 29 on Brooklyn in April). After
scoring two of 36 points, Stan Van Gundy, doing color for the Amazon broadcast, was inspired to quip, “This is the best game I’ve seen Landry Shamet play.” Ditto, Stan. Shamet, KAT, Jordan Clarkson, and Josh Hart combined to score 111 points, and New York took the win, 140-132.
OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges were expected to do big things with their floor-general absent, but the former left the game after two minutes with a hamstring strain, and the latter shot 6-of-21 from the field. Bridges wasn’t a bust—he stole the ball seven times!—but his 15 points weren’t pretty.
In other weird news: over 14 minutes, Mitchell Robinson logged 10 rebounds, eight offensive. That’s the most rebounds he’s logged in 14 minutes or less as a Knick. He also committed five fouls, scored zero points, and finished a -5.
For the Heat, Norman Powell tallied 38 points. But who cares about him? After 37 minutes, Landry Shamet finished 12-of-19 from the floor, 6-of-12 from deep, and made all six at the charity stripe. For one night, at least, there was Shamsanity at the Garden. Bask in it.
First Half
When Bridges jumped a Nikola Jovic pass, absconded with the ball, and blew the dunk, it wasn’t just embarrassing. It symbolized how this game would go. Namely: weird.
New York shot poorly from the perimeter on Wednesday against Orlando, and the trend continued in the first quarter. Nine of their first 12 three-point attempts were bricks, while their rivals hit 6-of-10. Whatever good stuff did occur (e.g., Robinson grabbing four offensive rebounds in the first three minutes) had a yin-yang opposite (e.g., Robinson collected three fouls and sat with three minutes left in the quarter. Mitch giveth, Mitch taketh.)
In Brunson’s absence, the Knicks needed offense and playmaking from elsewhere. Towns answered the call, ringing in 18 Q1 points. We expected him to deliver, and that OG and Mikal would pick up some slack, too. Guess again. Bridges couldn’t find enough daylight to shoot, and when Anunoby left the game with a strained hamstring, more dark clouds drifted into the Garden.
Meanwhile, Miami executed their game plan. The Flaming Flamingos shot the ball far better, hitting 55% from the field to build an early edge. New York kept pace with second-chance points and an 8–1 advantage on the offensive glass, but despite tallying more in the paint (18-8), they couldn’t match the Heat’s perimeter barrage.
A late 7-0 run by Miami inched the score to 28-22, but New York responded with a 10-5 run. If Clarkson hadn’t fouled Dru Smith with one second remaining, the score would have been closer than 35-32 at the break.
In the second quarter, the teams traded runs. Miami won a coach’s challenge on a Jovic charge, because of course. The game never got out of hand, but New York never built much momentum, either. Then, Mr. All-Star, Karl-Anthony Towns, went to work. He swished back-to-back triples, punished Miami in the paint, and broke 30 points with two minutes left in the half. How good was Mr. All-NBA? 11-of-16 from the field, baby. Only one other Knick had reached double-digits—Clarkson with 13. Their efforts, plus some late-quarter heroics from Hart, were enough. By the buzzer, New York had outscored Miami 46-33 and won the half, 78-68—shorthanded!
Through two frames, the home team had shot 53% from the field and 52% from deep while also winning the glass 22–18, including 10 O-boards. Miami kept up with strong perimeter shooting of its own and a steady diet of free throws, but the Knicks generated more assists, forced extra turnovers, and won the paint 28–24.
Josh Hart, ladies and gents.
Second Half
New York built a 12-point cushion, but Miami surged behind Pelle Larsson’s hot shooting and Powell’s aggressive play. The Knicks got timely buckets from Shamet, Bridges, and McBride, plus strong defensive work—including a Bridges block and plenty of boards from Hart—but their offense was streaky. Midway through the frame, Miami had cut its deficit to two.
Shamet and Towns combined for five points to increase their breathing room. Around that time, Hart got dinged for a loose-ball foul during which he hit the floor and appeared to strain his Tommy Johns. Briefly, it looked like another Knick might be heading to the injury report, but he bounced back and Joshed on. Thank God; another wounded player would be one too many.
Landry was feeling inspired after halftime, scoring 15 points in the third period. Through three quarters, he and Clarkson had delivered 40 points off the bench. And we thought Bridges and Anunoby would be the ones filling up the statsheet with Jalen out!
Miami kept coming close. They outscored the Knicks by six in the third, and despite a late push—thanks to multiple offensive rebounds and a fifth Robinson foul—New York managed to take a 110–104 lead into the fourth.
Our heroes started the period with a 10-2 run that inflated the lead to 14. Shamet slipped into another dimension and came back as Michael Jordan, shooting from everywhere and making everything. Nevertheless, the Heat don’t quit. Norm executed an And-1 with 5:30 remaining to make the differential 10. Then, with a minute left, Davion Mitchell and Andrew Wiggins canned consecutive triples to make this an eight-point lead. With the collar feeling snug, KAT made two free throws and grabbed a defensive rebound; then Josh corralled another defensive rebound and raced it back for a two-handed slam that crushed any Miami hopes for a comeback.
Up Next
On to Miami this Sunday to start a road trip. Safe travels, Knickerbockers.
