The New York Knicks fell to a 98-96 loss against the Miami Heat in Derrick Rose’s first game after being traded from the Detroit Pistons.
The former MVP returned to the Knicks after three-and-a-half years to reunite with coach Tom Thibodeau, with guard Dennis Smith Jr. and a 2021 second-round draft pick going the other way.
Rose dropped 14 points on his return, shooting 56% from the field, whilst also picking up one rebound and three assists.
Jimmy Butler led the way for the Heat, nearly reaching a triple-double for the game. Butler scored 26 points, picked up eight rebounds and made 10 assists.
The Heat ended the first quarter in the lead by 27-25, after spending the majority of the first in the lead.
The Knicks quickly took a 12 point advantage early in the second quarter, with Rose hitting a couple of threes to give them a 42-30 lead.
By half-time, the Heat found themselves two points in front, after hitting eight of their 14 threes in the second quarter.
Kelly Olynyk had a good performance for the Heat picking up 20 points and six three pointers, shooting 75% from beyond the arc.
The Knicks fought their way back into the game in the third, outscoring the Heat 27-19 to give themselves a six point lead heading into the fourth.
Elfrid Payton racked up 18 points for his side shooting 50% from the field, whilst also picking up five rebounds and four assists.
RJ Barrett picked up 13 points and six rebounds, whilst teammate Julius Randle scored 12 points whilst grabbing eight boards.
The Heat held the Knicks to 14 points in the fourth quarter to seal their third win in a row for the first time this season.
The Knicks head to DC next to face off against the Wizards, whilst the Heat travel to the Rockets to begin their seven game tour of the West.
[spreaker type=player resource=”show_id=4112709″ width=”100%” height=”200px” theme=”light” playlist=”false” playlist-continuous=”false” autoplay=”false” live-autoplay=”false” chapters-image=”true” episode-image-position=”right” hide-logo=”false” hide-likes=”false” hide-comments=”false” hide-sharing=”false” hide-download=”true”]