What the Miami Heat need to hold on to from their win over the New York Knicks

On Monday night, the Miami Heat were able to come away with a win against the New York Knicks, with the Heat now 6-1 on their home court. In a game that was close all throughout, the Heat were finally able to take control with timely plays down the stretch.

Here's what went right and what the Heat need to carry into the rest of the season:

Board men get paid: This was easily the Heat's best effort on the glass since the game that Bam Adebayo got hurt. Since that point, the Heat came into this game with the second-worst defensive rebound percentage in the league, allowing teams to rebound 38.5 percent of their misses.

On Monday, the Heat brought that number down to 30 percent, which would rank close to the middle of the pack this season. Although that number isn't too impressive on its own, with this being such a massive problem in each of their last several games, doing this against one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the league was absolutely pivotal in securing the win, with proved true in the chaotic final possession(s) of the game.

Kel'el Ware led the way with 14 rebounds, (including eight offensive boards). He's had gaudy rebound numbers plenty of times throughout his young career already, but what stood out is the Knicks only rebounding 22.3 percent of their misses when he was on the floor, a number that would rank first in the league. In the last game, the Knicks rebounded about 40 percent of their own misses when he was playing.

With Adebayo now questionable to play against the Warriors on Wednesday night, Ware and the Heat need to continue boxing out and putting in that same effort on the glass with long rebounds.

Winning the possession battle is vital for the Heat. Although rebounding may not be their calling card, mitigating that battle against the Knicks played a big part in them finishing the game taking seven more shots, in a game where the Heat took 11 fewer free throws and had a subpar night offensively.

Forcing opponents out of their comfort zones: In their loss to the Knicks on Friday night, the Heat's defense was inconsistent at best, allowing two individual 30-point halves and an 95th percentile offensive rating. Last night was a reminder that the Heat have a much better chance at winning when the opposite is true.

In a game where the Heat didn't do so well converting inside the arc, (29 percent in the paint, 25 percent in the mid-range, 62 percent at the rim), they handled the job defensively, holding the Knicks to a 17th percentile offensive rating in the halfcourt, 29th percentile overall.

Their defense on Karl Anthony Towns was particularly impressive. After it seemed like they had no answers for him in the first half last game, the Heat did a much better job executing their gameplan to contain him.

Between Andrew Wiggins (the primary matchup on Towns) and Jaime Jaquez Jr., the two did a lot to keep him from getting any type of positioning down low, fronting and denying him the ball. Once Towns did get the ball inside the arc with any sort of leverage afterwards, other Heat defenders swarmed the ball and recovered. Ware also did a solid job contesting shots and being more disciplined defensively whenever the two were matched up.

Notably, the Knicks offense under coach Mike Brown this season has had them taking a lot more threes than they used to. In the loss, the Heat allowed the Knicks to take almost half of their shot attempts from three, of which they made about 40 percent.

Last night, the Heat held the Knicks to taking 36 percent of their shots from three, which ranks in the 32nd percentile, and the Knicks converted just 25 percent.

Asked Norman Powell if holding the New York Knicks to fewer 3s was part of the Miami Heat’s gameplan in the win pic.twitter.com/TqHoFOK6R6
— alex toledo (@tropicalblanket) November 18, 2025

Although running the Knicks off the three-point line partially led to Mikal Bridges and Miles McBride having good scoring nights, they contained the Knicks' best player and took away some of their biggest strengths.

Alexander Toledo is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI and producer/co-host of the Five on the Floor podcast, covering the Heat and NBA. He can be reached at toledoalexander22@gmail.com. Twitter: @tropicalblanket

What the Miami Heat need to hold on to from their win over the New York Knicks

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