Gerald Green leads way on offense, defense for Heat

NEW YORK -- Gerald Green poured in a season-high 25 points in Miami's 97-78 win over New York on Friday, but his defensive effort against Knicks' star Carmelo Anthony might have been the most impressive part of his night.

Green and rookie forward Justise Winslow held Anthony scoreless for the final three quarters on 0-for-8 shooting at Madison Square Garden, limiting him to a season-low 11 points to help Miami (10-5) beat New York (8-9) for the eighth straight time. Green was starting in place of injured forward Luol Deng, who guarded Anthony in Miami's 95-78 win over the Knicks on their home floor on Monday.

"I respect 'Melo a lot," Green said. "I've been a fan of him before I've even been in this league. I just try to take the challenge. You really can't stop a guy like him, you can only contain him, and that's what I tried to do. I just tried to make everything tough for him."

"They stayed with their game plan from the beginning," Anthony said. "I couldn't find it in the second half for whatever reason."

Green dropped in 20 second-half points as the Heat outscored the Knicks 47-29 after the break to beat them for second time in a week. Forward Chris Bosh added 20 points and five rebounds, and guard Dwyane Wade had 17 points and five rebounds as the Heat bounced back from a loss to Detroit on Wednesday while sending the Knicks to their third straight defeat.

Miami center Hassan Whiteside, who entered leading the NBA in blocks per game (4.7), swatted five shots in the win.

Rookie forward Kristaps Porzingis tied Anthony for the Knicks' team lead with 11 points, and forward Kevin Seraphin added 10 points off the bench.

"You have to give Gerald and Justise a lot of credit," Wade said. "They kept fighting (Anthony). He is an unbelievable scorer. You have to understand his tendencies and hope for the best."

"For me it is a matter of trying to pick my spots," Anthony said. "Try to know when to go and when not to go. I am not trying to break the offense, but (still) trying to figure out when to go. It is still a fine line."

Miami entered the game allowing the lowest field-goal percentage (40.5) and second-lowest points per game (92.6) of any team in the NBA. The Heat harassed the Knicks into 37.6 percent shooting, including a 13-for-42 (31 percent) showing in the second half.

"It takes a great collective toughness, mental and physical, so we have to bring that tonight and really start to pick up our defense in the second half that carried us," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

The Knicks had the lead down to eight after a pair of free throws by forward Derrick Williams with 9:41 left in the game, but New York missed four of its next five shots and turned it over twice while Green rattled off 10 points in a decisive 14-2 run that ballooned the lead to 92-72 with 5:56 remaining.

"They are big up front, and they really make it tough for you to do the things you want to do," Knicks coach Derek Fisher said. "We didn't finish the second quarter the right way and things continued in the second half."

New York's top two rim protectors, center Robin Lopez and Porzingis, each picked up their fourth foul within a minute of one another early in the third quarter and Miami pounced.

The Heat turned a one-point lead into a 66-55 advantage with 5:01 to go in the period as Green dropped in six during the burst. The Heat kept the lead at 11 going into the fourth thanks to eight points in the period by Wade.

"I think the start of the third quarter (was the key)," Bosh said. "Even if we did get off to kind of a slow start, our defense was strong. They didn't get any easy buckets. There were no clean looks. I think that really kind of got us going, and it gave us time for our offense to catch up."

"We definitely had to make some adjustments, but that is why everyone has to stay ready," Fisher said about the foul trouble. "We are playing a team that has some championship DNA, and you knew the championship pedigree was coming out tonight."

Bosh, coming off a season-low nine points in Wednesday's loss to Detroit, dropped in 16 of his 20 in the first half on 5-for-11 shooting and hitting a step-back jumper with six seconds left that gave Miami a 50-49 lead at the break.

Four days after getting buried 52-30 in the first half in Miami, the Knicks looked much different early on thanks to a resurgent bench.

Rookie guard Jerian Grant and Seraphin combined for 12 as the bench accounted for 25 first-half points after scoring a combined 22 in a pair of losses earlier in the week.

NOTES: Miami F Luol Deng missed his second straight game with a strained left hamstring. He initially suffered the injury in a 95-78 win over the Knicks in Miami on Monday and missed a loss to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday. ... Before squaring off on the court Friday, Heat G Dwyane Wade and F Chris Bosh ate Thanksgiving dinner at the New York home of Knicks F Carmelo Anthony with their wives. The three were teammates on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team that won gold in Beijing. ... The Knicks went 2-2 on their recent road trip to give them a 5-4 road mark this season after winning seven games away from Madison Square Garden all of last season. ... Knicks coach Derek Fisher on G Arron Afflalo, who averaged 12.1 points in eight games after missing the first eight games of the season with a hamstring injury: "I think (Afflalo and G Jose Calderon) have found a way to kind of add some stability to our first group. Arron is still working his way back into condition. He still has a presence when he's out on the court. He physically impacts the game on both sides of the ball."