NEW YORK -- The Knicks entered Friday night's game here at Madison Square Garden against the Miami Heat without Jalen Brunson , who sprained his ankle against the Orlando Magic Wednesday. Then, five minutes into the first quarter, OG Anunoby exited with a left hamstring strain and was ruled out a short time later.

But it turned out to not be much of a problem due to one entirely predictable reason in Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns , and one entirely unpredictable one in reserve guard Landry Shamet .

Thanks to 39 points from Towns, who scored 31 in the first half, and a career-high 36 for Shamet, who scored 30 in the second half, New York cruised to a relatively comfortable 140-132 victory in the second NBA Cup group stage game for both teams.

"JB was missing today," Towns

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