Miami, FL - The Miami Heat secured their first win of the season Friday night against the Memphis Grizzlies, with a final score of 146-114, and were looking to stack another one tonight against the New York Knicks. Both franchises have a history of battles, especially during the late 1990s. The wars aren’t as bloody as they once were, but when both of these teams line up against each other, it’s always going to be scrappy.

The Knicks entered the game undefeated and were looking to join the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder as the only teams in the league with a 3-0 record. They’re projected to be the best team in the Eastern Conference. The roster experienced some changes during the offseason, along with new leadership in Mike Brown.

This was also the Heat’s home opener of the season. Last year, they faced the Knicks in early October in their building, but lost embarrassingly, with a final score of 116-107. All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns recorded 44 points and 13 rebounds, and Josh Hart grabbed 14 rebounds, which was more than every Heat player.

For the Heat, a win against the Knicks at home would mark a great start to the new season. They remain without Tyler Herro (ankle), Kasparas Jakucionas (groin), and Terry Rozier (not with the team).

As for the Knicks, they would be without veteran center Mitchell Robinson (left ankle; injury management) and guard Miles McBride (personal reasons; not with the team). Towns was questionable with a quad injury, but was then upgraded to available. Also, Hart was good to go after being listed as probable with back spasms, which occurred from a preseason game.

The starting lineups:

Heat: Davion Mitchell-Norman Powell-Bam Adebayo-Kel’el Ware

Knicks: Jalen Brunson-Mikal Bridges-OG Anunoby-Karl-Anthony Towns-Ariel Hukporti

Erik Spoelstra went with the double-big lineup for a second consecutive game, continuing Nikola Jovic’s role as a reserve, which worked tremendously against the Grizzlies. They certainly hope for the same results.

The first quarter began with both teams looking to establish their high offensive paces, gunning for every edge. Norman Powell got things started for the Heat with a couple of three-pointers made in his new home debut. He finished with 13 in the first 12 minutes of action.

For the Knicks, it was All-Star guard and captain Jalen Brunson leading the charge. He finished with 13 points after the first quarter.

The next 12 minutes were filled with some chaos. Both sides came out with some empty possessions and playing scrappy defense. The Heat went on an 11-1 run, which helped spark the offense the rest of the way, finishing with a 57-54 lead once they reached halftime.

There was a drastic differential in fastbreak points to end the first half, 16-3, in favor of the Heat. Also, in bench points with the home team having 23, to the visitor’s 13. Both Simone Fontecchio, also making his new home debut, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. led the second unit at the half, combining for 16 points.

A rough half for Ware and Jovic, both scoreless.

Brunson and Mikal Bridges were the only Knicks to finish in double figures to end the first half, combining for 26. Despite it being a close game, the Heat were outgunning them.

The third quarter was virtually the same as the second for the Knicks. Outside of Brunson and Bridges, hardly any other serious contributions. The Heat began to pull away, going on a 23-6 run in between the final minutes of the third and in the middle of the fourth quarter. They led by as many as 18, the only time either team led by double figures.

However, the Knicks didn’t back down as they sparked a 15-5 run late in the fourth, led by Brunson. They cut the deficit within five, but couldn’t execute enough to complete a miraculous comeback.

The Heat earned the victory in their home opener with a final score of 115-107.

Here are the biggest takeaways of the game:

Heat; one-sided bench battle:

One of the biggest conversations of the offseason was the Knicks’ upgraded depth. Last season, they had the lowest-scoring bench in the league, then brought in some valuable pieces. However, against the Heat, five reserve players combined for 21 points.

Jordan Clarkson, former Sixth Man of the Year, and Guerschon Yabusele combined for 10 of those points. They were the biggest disappointments for the Knicks. Both have struggled to begin the season in Brown’s system.

The Heat finished with 44 bench points, led by Jaquez Jr, who finished with 17, along with five rebounds and five assists. The third-year forward is having an excellent start to the season. Fontecchio followed him with 14 points, four rebounds, and an assist. The Italian native has found no issues fitting in with his new team.

“We’re just here having fun as a team,” Jaquez Jr. said postgame. “In the second unit, I just try to be that guy and a leader. I’ve been here, my third year, just trying to lead these guys in the second unit and bring it every time. I always tell them, ‘we’re either going to be the spark or we’re going to be the gas on the fire of the team.’ That’s kind of the motto I give to the guys.”

Heat; Pace stays up:

Despite some sloppy offensive moments, the Heat stuck with their new fast identity. They finished with a 102.57 pace rate for the game. That would have been their fourth-highest last season. The Heat have reached over 100 in all three of their games to begin the season; meanwhile, that was only accomplished four times for all of last year.

The Heat outscored the Knicks in fastbreak points 31-10, marking the second-highest total since Jan. 7th, 2012. They also sought to play faster, but clearly had trouble keeping up.

Heat; No trouble from behind the arc:

Last season, the Heat tied for 11th in the league in three-point percentage, 36.7, and 12th in total makes with 1,124. The team is off to a great start this year, shooting 39.3 percent. They made 13 out of 37 attempts against the Knicks, 35.1 percent.

Fontecchio and Powell, the new additions, have been great contributors in that aspect.

The Heat usually work inside the arc, but if they continue to make shots from long range, it only makes their offense more dangerous.

“Our mentality, our focus, internal belief within the organization and the team, obviously, is going to be more positive and higher expectations than the media would like to put on us,” Powell said postgame. “We weren’t worried about the preseason. As long as we’re making strides and pushing towards the goal and how he sees this team being later down the line in the season, that’s what we’re looking at. There’s no moral victories. We like the progression and what we saw in the preseason, working on this new offense, working on the defensive end of the ball, and the identity of what we had wanted to have at the start of the season.”

Heat; The next game:

The Heat improve their record to 2-1, their first time above .500, and will prepare for the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday at home once again.

“There was a competitive spirit from our guys,” Spoelstra said postgame. “We saw that, obviously, in the Orlando game. Guys are fully committing to that collective competitive edge. It wasn’t like a great game on our part. That competitive spirit, you can do a lot of things with that. You can get a lot of belief from that. You can weather some storms. We were able to rebound; we were able to get out in the open court. We still need to do a better job on the glass. These are lessons that are much better when you come off a win. I respect that commitment from the locker room right now.”