The New York Knicks defeated the Miami Heat on Sunday night, 132-125.
Jalen Brunson scored a Madison Square Garden career high of 47 points, en route to a Knicks victory. It was the fourth time this season New York met with their longtime Eastern Conference rival, and the season series is now split 2-2.
Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra, coach of Team USA basketball and arguably the best coach in the NBA, paid his respects to the Knicks after the game, citing their unmatched will to win.
Erik Spoelstra says 'you can't leave anything to chance' with Knicks
In his post-game press conference Sunday night, Spoelstra talked about what makes the Knicks so special.
"What you have to respect about the Knicks, you have to put them away every single possession. You can't leave anything to effing chance with that team ever. That's what they do. What they have is a will to win, all right. That's what we are developing and we are going to get there," Spoelstra told reporters.
"A collective will to win because we played the game well in certain stretches but there has to be a competition level where it's a competitive will to win to overcome those things. They do it time and time again. It's not just us."
After having faced the Knicks four times already this season, what coach would know better than what separates New York from other opponents across the association?
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- Jalen Brunson pushes back on idea that Eastern Conference is 'wide open'
- Victor Wembanyama sends message to Knicks ahead of NBA Cup Final
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- Insider provides injury update on Knicks three-point specialist Landry Shamet
- Karl-Anthony Towns opens up on breaking out of his shooting slump