Mike Brown kept hearing the same message over and over again.

Without Jalen Brunson due to a sprained ankle and quickly without OG Anunoby due to a hamstring strain suffered in the first quarter, the Knicks made it a point to get Karl-Anthony Towns going early during their 140-132 win over the Heat on Friday night at Madison Square Garden.

That emphasis came from Brown’s assistant, Rick Brunson.

“We wanted to play through him. It was great. Rick Brunson was the first one to say it,” Brown said. “He was like, ‘Hey, keep playing through KAT. Keep playing through KAT. Keep playing through KAT.’ ”

Towns was the most aggressive he has been all year, scoring 18 points in the first quarter and 31 in the first half.

He took 10 shots in the first quarter and 16 in the first half.

In the s

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