RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
NEW YORK (AP) -- There was something quite different yet something very familiar as the Knicks and Heat renewed their rivalry.
|  | | Anthony Mason had a huge game for the Heat, with 19 points and 18 rebounds. |
The faces had changed, but the intensity was the same as Heat got
big games from big men Brian Grant and Anthony Mason to defeat the
Knicks 84-81 Wednesday night.
Exploiting their size advantage at every opportunity, the Heat got 24 points and nine rebounds from Grant and 19 points and 18 rebounds from Mason in a game they controlled most of the way.
Grant missed a pair of free throws that would have clinched it with 9.6 seconds left, but Chris Childs came up short on a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left to end New York's only chance of the final minute.
"It was cool. Both teams were really playing to win," Grant said. "It wasn't as vicious as what I usually see on TV, but I can see where it's going to get like that later."
The Heat snapped a four-game losing streak and won for just the sixth time in 15 games. In the final seconds, Riley turned to the fans seated behind him and gleefully shouted: "It's the worst month I ever had, but it's November. It's over."
Tim Hardaway added 16 points and Eddie Jones 15 for the Heat.
Latrell Sprewell was practically a one-man offense for the
Knicks down the stretch, scoring 12 of his 22 points in the final
quarter. Allan Houston added 15 and Glen Rice 12.
With Patrick Ewing traded to Seattle and Alonzo Mourning out for
the season, the matchup took on a different look. But one thing
stayed constant -- Miami's ability to work the ball inside and
dominate underneath. Grant shot 9-for-12 and Mason was 6-for-10
from the field.
"Because of Patrick and Zo, it didn't feel like a typical Knicks-Heat," Miami's Tim Hardaway said. "I've been through them all, so I should know. If we get back in the playoffs against each other again, of course it'll go back to being the way it was."
Grant took a pass from Mason in the low post and converted a
three-point play with 3:42 left to stop a 10-0 Knicks run and give
Miami a 77-72 lead.
Jones made two from the line with 2:53 left, and Grant rejected
a shot by Larry Johnson on the Knicks' next possession. Grant then
went to the line with 2:26 left and made both to give the Heat an
eight-point lead, 79-73.
Mason made two free throws with 15.2 left for a six-point lead
before Childs -- who had shot an airball from 3-point range with 18
seconds left and the Knicks trailing by four -- made it 84-81 on a
3-pointer with 10.8 seconds left.
Bruce Bowen rebounded Childs' final miss and dribbled out the
clock.
"On our team's part, we needed a 'W.' Didn't matter if we were playing the Little Sisters of the Poor, we needed a 'W' -- so that's what that intensity was all about," Hardaway said.
Hardaway gave the Heat the lead for good on a 3-pointer with
3:14 left in the first quarter, and Miami steadily built its lead
from that point on. A pair of foul shots by Hardaway with 4:12 left
in the second quarter have the Heat a double-digit lead, 41-30,
that grew to 15 by halftime.
The lead reached 17 early in the third before the Knicks started
chipping away. New York cut its deficit to seven early in the
fourth quarter on a pair of foul shots by Rice but failed several
times to get closer.
Sprewell had a shot blocked by Grant and Rice missed a 3-pointer
before Jones grabbed an offensive rebound that led to a three-point
play by Grant for a 72-62 lead with 8:34 left.
Sprewell then started going 1-on-1 with Jones and getting the
best of him each time, scoring eight points in New York's 10-0 run
that made it a two-point game with 4:34 left.
"I'm not happy about anything, not one thing," Knicks coach
Jeff Van Gundy said. "The only time we started to play was when we
were down 17. We're fouling too much and we're not a serious team.
I've said the same thing over and over again. I'm not happy with
our group."
Game notes
A.C. Green didn't check in until midway through the fourth
quarter, extending his consecutive games streak to 1,125. ... Miami
avoided its first five-game losing streak since January 1996 -- Riley's first season in Miami. ... The Heat made three 3-pointers, extending their NBA record to 522 games with at least one 3. ... Marcus Camby fouled out with 2:53 left. He had nine points and 13
rebounds. Jones fouled out less than a minute later. He shot just
4-for-16.
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NBA Scoreboard
Miami Clubhouse
New York Clubhouse
RECAPS
Philadelphia 93
Washington 87
Charlotte 103
Toronto 79
Detroit 97
New Jersey 76
Utah 88
Orlando 86
Denver 107
Minnesota 100
Miami 84
New York 81
San Antonio 82
Sacramento 79
Vancouver 109
Phoenix 106
LA Clippers 106
Golden State 83
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