MIAMI — LeBron James continues to give the Knicks their due and didn’t sugarcoat Thursday night’s 20-point whipping that followed Nov. 2’s 20-point whipping.
“They pretty much just kicked our [butt] in two games,’’ James said after the Heat’s 112-92 blowout loss.
Perhaps most tellingly was James spending one hour after the loss working out in the weight room before meeting with the media. The message: the Heat have to get better to beat the Knicks.
“Yeah, no I didn’t [do enough tonight]. I just got some more work in, that’s all,’’ James said. “I have to be better. It’s that simple. I am here and I am the last one to leave.’’
James congratulated the Knicks players after the final buzzer.
“We already thought they were going to be a better team,’’ James said. “We haven’t went into the first two games doubting them or underestimating their ability.’’
James, who dominated in the first half, was one assist short of a triple-double, finishing with 31 points on 11 of 20 shooting with 10 rebounds, nine assists, and three steals. He was an assist machine early but later his teammates weren’t making shots as the other part of the Big 3, Dwayne Wade (3 of 13, 13 points) and Chris Bosh (3 of 12, 12 points), had awful nights. But they allowed the Knicks a ton of open looks from the 3-point stripe.
“We have to find a way to be better defensively,’’ James said. “We can’t just throw this under the rug and move on the to the next game. We have some work to do.’’
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Despite his shooting woes, J.R. Smith is finding ways to be a factor for the Knicks late in games.
Smith, the hero in Charlotte, started 0-for-5 Thursday night, but came on in the second half and finished with 13 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Smith’s, who hit his first buzzer-beating game-winner in the Knicks’ 100-98 victory over the Bobcats Wednesday, was just 4-for-15 from the field, but 3-for-8 from 3-point land.
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With the Heat loss, the Knicks are the lone team unbeaten at home. … The Knicks are confident Amar’e Stoudemire is on pace to return somewhere in the six-to-eight-week time frame they set on Nov. 1. The Post has reported a mid-December Stoudemire return looked doubtful, and he was shooting for around Christmas. Stoudemire told The Post everything depends on “no setbacks.’’
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Knicks West Coast scout Mark Hughes, personnel director Mark Warkentien, East Coast scout Walker Russell and college scouting consultant Ben Jobe met with general manager Glen Grunwald.
The Knicks don’t have a second-round pick nor do they have a first-round or second-round pick next year, so they will want to make this first-round pick count.
The Knicks didn’t have a first-rounder last year and traded their second-round pick, the Greek player, Kostas Papanikolaou, in the Raymond Felton sign-and-trade.