This game was in the Miami Heat’s hands. They needed this win, and they dominated the New York Knicks down low, took control of the pace and were up by 19 points. All of that came crashing down. The Heat collapsed, let the Knicks storm back, then forced overtime and still somehow managed to lose 116-112 at Kaseya Center against a team they had in complete control of.

Afterward, frustration was all over the team, but two players—Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro—were especially vocal about what went wrong. Miami came out attacking. In the first half, they bullied the Knicks, scoring 62 points. New York had no answers for their drives, their movement, their relentless energy. And then? Everything changed.

That same aggression? Gone. Instead of continuing to pound the paint, Miami settled—taking tougher shots, slowing down, letting the Knicks dictate the game. The result? New York flipped the script, outscoring Miami 38-16 in the paint after halftime.

Tyler Herro didn’t hold back when talking about it. “We went away from some of the stuff we were doing in the first half to get into the paint,” he said. “It’s as simple as that.”

Bam Adebayo? He saw the same thing. “We just didn’t get in the paint enough, and obviously, that was the deciding factor in the game,” Adebayo said. “It was right there again.”

And he’s spot on. This wasn’t just a small tweak from the Knicks. It was a complete shift in how Miami played offense. They had New York on the ropes, but instead of finishing the job, they backed off.

Bam Adebayo’s Efficiency & Herro’s Shooting Woes

The crazy part? When Bam Adebayo got touches inside, he was unstoppable. He dropped 30 points on 12-of-16 shooting, absolutely cooking the Knicks. But as Miami strayed from their first-half approach, his impact started to fade.

Meanwhile, Herro tried to pick up the slack, but it was a rough night for him. He finished with 22 points, but shot 8-of-24 from the field and 2-of-11 from three. Sure, he had a clutch 5-0 run late in the fourth to put Miami back ahead, but by then, the Heat had already let New York back in the game.

And Bam? He’s had enough of these meltdowns. “It just stings when this is like our [15th] game being up double digits and losing,” he said. “So for us, it’s when are we going to hold the fort to have a 10-point lead, go to 20 and then win by 20?”

That’s the problem. It’s not just this game. It’s a pattern. Miami’s offensive issues were one thing, but their defense completely collapsed too. The Knicks put up 71 points in the second half and overtime, shooting a ridiculous 60.4% from the field. Jalen Brunson? Unstoppable. He torched Miami for 26 of his 31 points after halftime, while OG Anunoby came up with huge plays down the stretch.

Even when Miami had a four-point lead with 1:17 left in regulation, they couldn’t close it. Brunson and Anunoby walked into back-to-back layups, sent it to overtime, and from there, the Knicks just kept rolling.

This is now the 15th time this season Miami has blown a double-digit lead and lost—the second-most in the entire NBA, according to Miami Herald. Erik Spoelstra brushed it off, saying, “You can’t expect to blow teams out,” but Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro clearly don’t feel the same way.

For them, the answer is obvious—Miami abandoned the paint when it mattered most.

Now, the Heat has to turn the page quickly. They’ve got a back-to-back against the Washington Wizards coming up. The only question is: Will they actually learn from this, or are they about to do it all over again?