The Knicks see Monday’s clash against the Heat in Miami as a valuable opportunity to prepare for the postseason.
It marks the third time the Knicks will have played against the Heat in the first 13 games this season, and the second within three days.
“It’s a good playoff warmup, practice, playing the same team over two days or three days,” Karl-Anthony Towns said after practice Sunday. “You gotta be ready for them to adjust, ready for them to do what they gotta do as a coaching staff to counteract what we do and what we showed them last game. It’s gonna be good for us to have sort of a playoff series style of play where we played them two days ago and now we’re about to play them again and at their house. It’s kind of those momentum shifts you see in Game 2 or 3 or 4 and 5 [of a playoff series]. It’s gonna be good for us to have practice with that.”
Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (C) grabs a rebound from Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. (R) on Nov. 14, 2025. JASON SZENES FOR NY POST
They split the first two matchups, each winning at home.
“Obviously, we’ve played two games already, we’re already a little familiar with it,” Josh Hart said. “You gotta make adjustments. Obviously, [Heat coach Erik Spoelstra] is gonna watch the game and he’s gonna have them ready to go. It was a very high-scoring game [on Friday], so we expect the defense to pick up, the physicality to pick up a little bit. It’s kind of like a playoff series, in a sense. We’ve played them three times in three weeks, so you’re familiar with them. Now, you try to do a couple of adjustments, a couple of counters.”
Landry Shamet celebrates during the game against the Miami Heat during the 2025 – 2026 Emirates NBA Cup game on November 14, 2025 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. NBAE via Getty Images
Towns’ girlfriend, Jordyn Woods, revealed on Instagram that she tracked down his mom’s old car that she had when he was a kid, had it refurbished, shipped across the country and gave it to him for his 30th birthday Saturday.
Woods said that Towns had expressed that he “loved” that car.
“She did an amazing thing,” Towns said. “I’m still shocked by it. It’s something fun, I can’t wait to drive it.
“I’m still stunned by it. She’s one of a kind, what can I say. It was something special. I’m excited to drive it. It’s hard in New York to drive it right now, but it’s gonna be fun in my life to drive that car around a lot.”
Miles McBride (personal reasons) is questionable for Monday’s game. Bam Adebayo (left big toe sprain) and Tyler Herro (recovering from left ankle surgery) are out again for the Heat.
