Karl-Anthony Towns pours in 44 points in Knicks’ 116-107 win over Heat

MIAMI — Bam Adebayo stood in one of the Kaseya Center’s corridors, fresh off the Heat’s morning shootaround ahead of tipoff against the Knicks on Wednesday. These Knicks, Adebayo knew, weren’t just retooled for another deep playoff run — they were built for a title.

New York didn’t just trade five first-round picks for Mikal Bridges; they followed up by shipping out three-time All-Star Julius Randle and versatile two-way wing Donte DiVincenzo to Minnesota for Karl-Anthony Towns. The moves signaled a shift in the Knicks’ aspirations. With Bridges and Towns, the Knicks weren’t just content with competing. They were after a championship.

It was Adebayo’s job to figure out how to stop Towns — a 39.8% career shooter from deep — whose arrival brought a new dynamic to the Knicks’ offense. Gone was Mitchell Robinson’s paint presence, now recovering from ankle surgery, and in his place stood Towns, a floor-spacing, 3-point-shooting big man capable of shifting the game’s balance.

Adebayo trusted the Heat’s defensive schemes under head coach Erik Spoelstra, confident in their game plan to contain the versatile Knicks’ offense.

“Trust our schemes, trust what we do,” Adebayo said. “We come up with great plans on that side of the ball, so for us, it’s getting stops, making the shots difficult, and running in transition.”

But on this night, trust alone wasn’t enough. The Kat was out of the bag, and Miami had no answer. Towns erupted for his best performance as a Knick, powering New York to a 116-107 win in South Beach.

Towns was unstoppable, pouring in 44 points on 17-of-25 shooting and grabbing 13 rebounds. He set the tone early with 12 points in the first quarter, followed by another 12 in the second, entering the fourth quarter with 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting. After a quiet 13-point outing in Monday’s loss to Cleveland, Towns came out aggressive, attempting eight shots in the first quarter alone and leading the Knicks with 25 field-goal attempts for the night.

Towns only took eight shot attempts against the Cavaliers, but took eight in the first period alone in Miami.

For a Knicks team teetering on a 1-2 record, Towns’ scoring explosion was exactly what they needed. And just in time, help arrived.

The Heat had jumped out to a 32-26 lead after the first quarter, fueled by Tyler Herro’s 14 points and three assists on 5-of-6 shooting. While the Knicks managed to hold Jimmy Butler to 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, Herro’s hot hand kept the Heat in control, with their lead ballooning to as much as 13 points.

But the Knicks clawed back. Bridges, who had struggled early, missing seven of his first nine shots, found his rhythm in the second half, hitting 4 of 7 from the field and finishing with 17 points. Jalen Brunson, similarly quiet in the first half (1-of-7 shooting), came alive in crunch time, finishing with 22 points and knocking down two key 3-pointers in the final stretch: one to give the Knicks a 79-77 lead late in the third, and another to stave off a Heat comeback in the fourth.

Yet, it was Towns’ night from start to finish. In the game’s final minutes, with the Knicks holding a slim lead, Towns nailed a dagger 3 from the top of the key to stretch the margin to 12. Then, in a moment that sealed Miami’s fate, Towns muscled his way between Adebayo and Butler to snare an offensive rebound and lay it back in, drawing the foul. He flexed toward the crowd on his way to the line, his dominant performance putting the finishing touches on a Knicks victory.

With the win, New York moved to 2-2. Now, the road awaits: Detroit, Houston and Atlanta. Three teams, three cities — and each of them is about to find out that the Kat is out of the bag and heading their way.