Karl-Anthony Towns scores 44 points as Knicks hold off Heat

MIAMI — KAT was on the prowl on Mischief Night.

Besting nemesis Jimmy Butler, the Knicks center shook off issues from his opening three games by pouring in 44 points in Wednesday’s 116-107 comeback victory against the Heat.

It was, by far, his top performance since joining the Knicks and he ended it with an and-1 over Butler. Towns celebrated that bucket by flexing his muscles toward the Miami bench.

“I just wanted to win,” Towns said. “I wasn’t even thinking honestly, I just didn’t realize the time, either. I was just trying to make the winning play so you get to those last minutes, you kind of get lost in the game.

“And I definitely did.”

Towns shot 17-for-25 with 13 rebounds.

He dropped 14 points in the fourth quarter with five boards. Butler, who tormented Towns during and immediately after their time together as teammates in Minnesota, managed just 15 points in 37 minutes.

“I think we did a good job of just feeding the hot hand,” Jalen Brunson said. “He was hot and we were just playing through him. He was making the right reads and when they doubled he either got fouled or he made the right play. We trust him. We trust him.”

It was the start of a four-game road trip for the Knicks (2-2) and arguably the toughest matchup with games upcoming at Detroit, Houston and Atlanta.

The Knicks were struggling early Wednesday — especially Brunson — and trailed by double-digits early in the third quarter.

The turning point, whether coincidental or not, was Miami’s Nikola Jovic nailing a 3-pointer and appearing to mock Brunson’s 3-fingered hand-to-the-face celebration.

The Knicks immediately launched a 30-10 run, turning a 13-point deficit following Jovic’s trey into a seven-point lead to start the final period. Brunson said he didn’t notice Jovic and wouldn’t have been bothered if he did.

“You can take offense if you want but I think it’s pretty cool when someone else did [the celebration],” Brunson said. “Whatever.”

Brunson recovered from a rough first half (just four points on 1 of 7 shooting) before resuscitating in the second and finishing with 22 points and nine assists.

The result was encouraging but the Knicks are figuring things out, hoping to discover the rhythm and chemistry of last season’s finish.

Much of their clunkiness is understandable.

Brunson is the only player on the roster who started more than 42 games for the Knicks last season.

Tom Thibodeau has been throwing different substitution patterns on the wall, hoping something sticks. He retired to Jericho Sims as the backup center, two days after benching him for Ariel Hukporti in the second half of a loss to the Cavaliers.

Thibodeau also dumped the overmatched rookie Pacome Dadiet from the rotation after the first game.

Before launching 40 treys in Miami, the Knicks were dead-last in 3-point attempts per game (28.3) despite adding shooters to the roster.

“We’re a work in progress, it’s going to take some time,” Thibodeau said. “But we’re shooting a good percentage. I want us taking good shots. I think we’re third in offensive rating [they were fourth before Wednesday]. We’re shooting a very high field-goal percentage. We’re shooting a high percentage from 3. But the volume needs to go up so we share in that responsibility.”

No matter where the Knicks stand on Halloween, there’s an expectation they at least advance to the conference final for the first time since 2000.

Their all-in moves — which sacrificed continuity — looked might good Wednesday night.

Especially Towns.

“I thought they were going to be the Nova Knicks until they got rid of Donte [DiVincenzo],” Heat center Bam Adebayo said. “I mean, they’re still the Nova Knicks, they still got three of them on the team. You know they’re trying to get to the promised land like I said when you see moves like that you understand they don’t want to be booted in the conference finals or the second round anymore. They’re trying to get to the Finals.”