Knicks Burned by the Heat
New York Knicks vs. Miami Heat
Dec 28 @ Heat Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 TOTAL Knicks 18 22
25 33 98 Heat 34 19 27 26 106
NEW YORK CITY : The Knicks played a poor first half that left the Heat
firmly in the driver's seat for a grueling second half The New York Knicks
seem to think that to play against the Miami Heat you only need to play one
half. At least, that's what their past two performances against the Heat have
shown.
Dwyane Wade scored 40 points and snatched nine rebounds to overcome Amar'e
Stoudemire's 30-point game. Wade was aided by Lebron James (18 points) and
Chris Bosh (18 points) to steer the Heat to a 106-98 victory.
The Knicks fell asleep in the first half, missing shots, playing weak
defense, and letting the Heat get dozens of easy baskets. The Heat were up by
16 points.
In the second quarter, the Knicks out-scored the Heat by 3 points but it
wasn't enough. The Knicks went into half-time trailing by a big deficit.
The third quarter began and the Knicks decided to "get real." The Knicks
started to give the Heat back some of the defense that suffocated the
Knicks in the second half of their December 17 match-up in New York.
American Airlines Arena grew quiet as New York started insinuating a
come-back late in the third and early in the fourth. The Heat still out-scored
the Knicks in the third quarter but there were already signs that the
Knicks were hungry for the win.
The Heat, who have clearly learned how to work together as a team, did not
panic. Not even when the Knicks pulled to within three points with 2:02
left in the fourth following a technical foul against the Heat.
In the end, the Heat managed to stay cool and hold it together to take home
the win, but this was a marked improvement for the New York Knicks who
were blown-out in their previous match against the Miami Heat.
"Tonight was a measuring stick game for us and we feel we played well
despite the first quarter," Stoudemire said after the game.
Stoudemire pointed out that the Knicks have improved and their 18-13 record
certainly demonstrates that. The Knicks may not be at a level where they
can beat Miami easily but, last night, the Knicks showed that they have the
potential to go toe-to-toe with the league's best.
Raymond Felton put in 15 points and five assists to keep the Knicks
fighting but where they really fell apart was with rookie Landry Fields who
finally had himself a bad night. He only scored three points and shot 1 for 6
from the field.
Like the Knicks, everyone is allowed to have the occasional bad night.
The Knicks play again on Thursday night against the Magic (20-12) in
Orlando.
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