The Miami Heat defeated the New York Knicks, 105 - 88, at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday evening. The Heat (37 - 38) continued their fight to preserve the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference against a Knicks (28 - 47) that was missing Derrick Rose (knee) and exploited New York's short - handedness. Miami shot 48 percent from the field and 48 percent from three - point range while limiting the Knicks to respective figures of 37 and 20 percent in those categories. New York notably won the rebound battle by a 52 - 40 margin but trailed in every quarter on the way to the double - digit loss. Miami was led by Goran Dragic, who tallied 20 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and two steals. Josh Richardson followed with 17 points, one assist, one rebound, five steals and one block. Hassan Whiteside had a near double - double with 11 points, nine boards, one assist and four blocks. James Johnson led the bench with 18 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks. Tyler Johnson was productive as a reserve as well with 12 points, seven rebounds and one assist. Kristaps Porzingis paced New York with 20 points, eight boards, two assists and three blocks. Willy Herangomez provided 12 points, nine rebounds and one assist. Courtney Lee registered 10 points, two rebounds, one assist, two steals and one block. Carmelo Anthony had a modest game by his standards with nine points, seven boards and one assist. Chasson Randle led the bench with nine points, four rebounds and three assists. The Heat and Knicks reconvene in Miami on Friday night for the second game of the home - and - home series.
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 "TeamStat(G,'Heat') has 48 Percentage of 3 points ,has 48 Percentage of field goals ,has 38 Losses ,has 105 Total points ,has 40 Points in 4th quarter ,has 37 Rebounds ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Hassan Whiteside') has 1 Assists ,has 4 Blocks ,has 11 Points ,has 9 Total rebounds ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Goran Dragic') has 9 Assists ,has 20 Blocks ,has 7 Points ,has 2 Total rebounds ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Josh Richardson') has 1 Assists ,has 1 Blocks ,has 17 Points ,has 1 Total rebounds ,has 5 Steals ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'James Johnson') has 4 Assists ,has 2 Blocks ,has 18 Points ,has 7 Total rebounds ,has 3 Steals ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Tyler Johnson') has 1 Assists ,has 12 Blocks ,has 7 Points ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Carmelo Anthony') has 1 Assists ,has 9 Blocks ,has 7 Points ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Kristaps Porzingis') has 2 Assists ,has 3 Blocks ,has 20 Points ,has 8 Total rebounds ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Willy Hernangomez') has 1 Assists ,has 12 Blocks ,has 9 Points ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Courtney Lee') has 1 Assists ,has 1 Blocks ,has 10 Points ,has 2 Total rebounds ,has 2 Steals ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Chasson Randle') has 3 Assists ,has 9 Blocks ,has 4 Points ."]