We all know the Heat and what they bring to the table, but this is the first time this season that the Knicks will play them. Let’s take a quick look at where the Heat are at so far this year.
The Team
Record: 27-8
PTS/G: 104.9 (5th)
Opp PTS/G: 97.9 (7th)
Off Rtg: 111.4 (2nd)
Def Rtg: 104.0 (9th)
The Players
It seems like every year a case can be made for Lebron James having the best season of his career. Considering he has been the undeniable (by sane people) best player in the world for nearly a decade, it is amazing that he just keeps getting better. This year Lebron is scoring with an efficiency that predominately wing players should never come close to. This season he is shooting 41% on 3.4 3PA/36, 64% on 12.4 2PA/36, 75% on 7 FTA/36. This adds up to what would be a career high TS% of 0.67. Lebron James is scoring with Tyson Chandler like efficiency, mostly from the wing, on 16 FGA per game. To put that in perspective, in the history of basketball, of all non-centers who had more than 1000 minutes and at least 10 FGA/game, the only person to have a higher TS% than Lebron has right now was Cedric Maxwell, who was mainly a low post scorer for the ’78-’79 Boston Celtics, when had a 67.6% TS% on 10.1 FGA/Game. If Lebron keeps this up for the entire season, this will go down as maybe the most impressive scoring season in the history of the NBA.
OK, so Lebron is great, what about the other 2 heads of the big 3? Well, Bosh’s numbers this year (per 36min: 19.0 PTS, 7.9 REB, 1.3 BLK, .602 TS%) are nearly identical to last year, so no drop off there. Wade has seen a further drop in free throw rate, from 6.4 FTA/36 last year (8.3 for his career) to 5.1 FTA/36 this season. Other than that, he has been pretty much in line with last season (per 36min: 21.0 PTS, 5.3 REB, 5.3 AST, 2.1 STL .583 TS%), and still logging 33 minutes per game. Tales of his demise are premature.
For the rest of the roster, pretty much all of the old faces are back. Chalmers and Cole are manning the point with at least average production. Ray Allen is still getting 25 minutes per game, and shooting 36% from 3, which is due to improve. In the front court Joel Anthony barely sees the floor anymore, giving way to Andersen, Haslem, Battier and Rashard Lewis. The main difference from last year with the supporting cast has been the glorious return of Michael Beasley. After a disappointing first 5 years and nearly smoking himself out of the NBA, Beasley has actually become a solid contributor at just under 20 minutes a game. In fact, his per minute stats are actually quite sterling: (per 36min) 20.6 PTS, 8.4 REB, 1.3 AST, 1.0 STL, .589 TS%. This turned out, so far, to be a nice low risk signing in the offseason for Miami.
Summary
Miami’s big 3 are still performing at least as well as last year. There have been no major personnel loss with the remaining cast, and they have added unexpected solid production from Michael Beasley. This is still a scary good team, and maybe even a little better than last year. That’s bad news for the rest of the NBA and, most likely, for the Knicks tonight. My prediction for tonight’s game is that JR still gets over 30 minutes, despite Woodson being very very disappointed in him, and unties 3 shoelaces. Oh, and the Knicks lose by 12. The Garden is not the home court advantage it once was.
Not a strong start.
Andrea 5, rest of team 6.
The offense is meh but somehow it’s a three point game. Neither halfcourt offense is flowing.
Bueller?
Amare plus Bargnani. I see a lot of Miami baskets coming.
Andrea is lighting it up.
Always tantalizing. Frequently disappointing.
Bargs with the customary high scoring first quarter. Will he keep it up?
Mason with the brick.
A lead!
I think JR Smith has been benched. Behind Stat and THJ.
Notice how Miami played the 2-for-1 brilliantly to end the quarter? It’s the little things.
Lebron v. Bargnani….
not a good matchup.
Well, despite that last shot from LeBron (which, yes Bargs sucks, but give James some credit; just a great player making a great play), we’re not getting our ass totally kicked and no sign of JR Smith.
If I can say that again at the end of this game, I’ll be content.
The melo/ Felton pick and roll with bargs is unstoppable… Over/under 1.5 times they run it for the rest of the game. I’m taking the under.
Whenever Miami feels like it, they will blow this game open. Hopefully they never feel like it.
neither my wife nor my boxer have really respected my desire to watch this game tonight. can someone catch me up? has JR entered? when he was summoned by woody, did he try to untie woodson’s shoe?
I’m happy to report there have been no sightings of JR.
Ooh look at this Toure starts the second. Beno hurt or Woody waking up?
The insanity TOURE!!!
or do we like the award TOURE??
How do you spell discipline?
D-N-P-C-D
Hooray Tour’e
Nevermind. This lineup is awesome!
Really nice run, led by Amare, who has played some do his best games as a knick against Miami.
woodson is trying to figure out when he should put JR in to provide veteran leadership
The rookies showing their quality. Time out Miami!
Beno’s hurt. Inflammation in his knee, not serious but he may miss a couple games.
Really nice defense by Tour’e.
Strong PnR at the offensive end.
So far so good
Great steal by Tour’e and a good decision to get the ball to THJ for the open 3. Unfortunately, he missed.
Gone cold
Too bad they sat Amare; he was hot.
TH2 needs to make those wide open 3′s.
So many bricks on WIDE OPEN 3pters.
Shumpert got the ball at top of key in isolation. Looked up and saw LBJ. Thought better of it and passed.
Nicely done.
Knicks go zone. Cole makes 3.
toure should absolutely get 20 minutes tonight
I don’t suppose Katie Holmes reads knickerblogger. . .
Best Carmelo moment of the year.
Melo blowing by LBJ for the dunk!!
Did Melo just posterize Lebron?
Yay…
Actually, I heard that THCJ was the nom de plume of Katie Holmes. She is a big Wages of Wins believer.
the ppast 2 minutes have been my favorite melo stretch as a knicks. takes it at lebron for a dunk. out positions lebron to intercept a pass. tips a lebron lookaway. takes it to the hole and gets fouled by lebron (not called). bully balls lebron for a layup. if we are ever going to be good, he needs to grab his jewels and take on the superstars play for play, not just point for point. that was a glimpse
Cant question Melo or Felton’s effort tonight thats for sure.
The Knicks are playing really well. I love it.
I think Carmelo is kicking Lebron’s ass, dunking, driving, stealing passes. But for a chasedown tick of a layup it would be all Melo.
What is Kenyon doing? Stay on the 3 pt shooter!
The Murry/Shump/THJ trio is a lot of fun.
Felt like a lot better than 6-16 from Melo….
I also feel like Miami is toying with us. Wish that last shot had counted….
Yeah, feels like the Knicks are playing well but they are down 5 at the half against a Heat team who clearly got outworked and outhustled in the 1st half. Not a good sign considering what the Heat usually do to teams in the 2nd half and how horrible the Knicks play at home in the 4th quarter.
Kenny Smith on stats, “that’s why stats always don’t say anything, they both have 13 points, but it’s about efficiency and understanding the game….”
What does that even mean?
It is about efficiency Kenny, as both you and the stats suggest….
We shot 10% from 3. Down 5 after that is not so bad at all.
Barkley a little more on the mark…
why does barkley feel that Shump falls into a category of players that just want to shoot it?? if that is the case, he must feel very unfulfilled, as he never gets to actually shoot… and why does the media love tyson chandler so much??? i mean, i like him, but i think the myth of tyson is a little overblown
Yeah, that half should have been much closer. We should have the lead really, wasted opp….
He’s sort of like Achilles, if he’d been dipped in that river by his immune system.
Couldn’t hear the TNT guys at the half b/c of work. Was Barkley trolling us again or did he actually give insightful reasons why he doesn’t like this year’s team?
How do the Heat get a shot and a basket with .7 seconds on the clock and we can’t get a shot off with 7 seconds on the clock? What is this epidemic of meltdowns with the clock winding down? Both ways? when this happens 3 or 4 times a game it can mean a swing of 8-10 points. It is a part of the game that separates the good teams from the bad ones.
And no Charles, or Kenny or whoever asked, the Knicks will not be running tonight. Or at any time this year.
No role players on the Knicks to complement Anthony, was his main point.
Carmelo’s shot was pure like Ivory soap.
Ray has to wipe that doughnut grease off his fingers
Wade took 3 steps when he caught that pass.
Was Bargs walking AWAY from the play when Lebron crushed that dunk?
Shumpert with a no . . . no . . . Yes three pointer off the bounce early on the clock.
SHUMP SHUMP
Question: if the Knicks run into foul trouble does Woodson keep Smith on the bench and go with 4 players on the court, a la Norman Dale?
He was taking evasive action.
Shumpert heating up!
To go from Kenny’s nonsense to Kerr discussing Lebron’s insane, historic ts% (67%) is quite the transition….
Should have waited as he just bricked one.
how could lebron even argue that with a straight face. he ran right in to bargs before bargs could even get out of his way and let him dunk
Nice charge Barnasty just took there
Best thing Barngani could do IMO would be to take it personally and start getting up into LeBron’s mug
Even a blind 7-ft squirrel sometimes gets Lebron to run him over.
“Even a blind 7-ft squirrel sometimes gets Lebron to run him over.”
lol
why would shump just leave LJ
i like that foul by melo there. nothing easy. good thing to, because amare was clearly not paying any attention and was going to get dunked on unknowingly
This Bargnani Lebron matchup doesn’t seem to be to our advantage, run overs notwithstanding….
the bargs pump fake was soooo unbeievable on tv, but apparently quite believable in person
LeBron wishes he could taunt spike like Reggie. Eat a fat one, bron bron
Real fun 3rd quarter so far but I just dont see how the Knicks will be able to get enough defensive stops down the stretch to be able to win this game.
Bargnani is tantalizing. The talent is real. The gaping deficits are equally real.
shump is leading us in minutes, is +6, and is playing burn in hellfire defense. we dont miss JR at all. note to woodson. we do not miss JR at all
Who ever said Bargs should run PnRs as a ball handler maybe right. I think it should be explored.
Loving shumps play but why doesnt he ever jump to contest a wade J
Great pass Shump!
Amazing what happens when you move the ball….
Two for one, please.
soooooooo. about that 2 for 1 idea
This is some game.
Not so much.
Oh my
Yay.
ROOOOOOOOOOK!!!!!!!
T-Hard!!
That was something!!!! Hardaway!!!!
Of course Lebron ruins the moment though….
THJ!!
Love those hops.
This is dated, but this is like an old ABA game.
The ball should be red, white and blue!
THJam!
the way to stop lebron at the end of quarters is not to allow him unimpeded route to the front of the rim. just an idea
THJ showing serious hops.
Carmelo should keep feasting from 3 because Lebron sags into the lane in all penetration.
I’m pretty certain that if someone asked Woodson about why this team never goes for the 2-for-1 opportunities, he’d just reply with “huh?”
Lebron is just so much better than even Durant. His efficiency, the way he runs the team, and his unrivaled power. Geez, wish he was a knick.
Timmaay!
Not gonna lie, that Hardaway putback jam got me excited. Still scared shitless of what LeBron is gonna do down the stretch though lol.
Does the miss Amar’s J and THjr count as a 2 for 1? lol.
No comment!
If you accept that Lebron is going to have 3 poster dunks. Defense has been good.
Bargs is playing great. He’s gonna get posterized by Lebron, but other than that, he’s been solid
Hearts beating in this one. Feels like a playoff game. Yet I have this nagging feeling that miami and james are just toying with the knicks right now. Please god, give this one to the knicks.
“Our defense was solid in the third quarter”
That series of slow motion waltzes into the lane resulting in uncontested slams seems to have escaped Woodson’s notice.
I like how a Melo strip is a he lost it
Melo played great D to get that stop.
i for one am glad that lebron is not a knick. i would hate to have to root for his bitch ass and i def do not want him involved with the first knick championship that i ever witness
I think the Knicks are better tonight BECAUSE JR is sitting.
Toure…..Murray…. Just a fair foul shooter
Ahh yes bargs
Bargnani is in beast mode.
Great transition feed by Murry.
Nice finish by Melo.
toure seems to be a really gifted passer. there is no reason that i can see that he is not an NBA level back up pg at this point
Melo must feel like he was back at Denver after that spiffy pass from Toure on the break.
+1 @116
BARGS!!!
Then a good vibe encouragement from KMart to the Bargs.
Nice.
Melo is running the floor really well for a guy that’s coming off a sprain.
Still can’t believe Tyson is out for a third game with a cold. He’s killing my fantasy team this week.
So I’m sitting on LIRR and reading the thread and am still nervous. Is that normal?
Does Tour’e shooting motion look like a mix between Blake Griffin’s and Rondo’s? I don’t know it looks funky to me.
Frank O @117 if I could quote from this phone I’d +1
If Kate Upton does the Dougie, she might cause a Miami turnover.
I’ll take a Beasley three any day
Stat so clumsy. But I’ll take it
Stat playing tough
Keenny just told us Lebron never goes one on one
i love the lebron-bargs isos. actually, it turns the heat offense stagnant
Stat is +20
Two costly mistakes in a row
Please don’t lose this game. I beg you….
toure off glass to amare. yes!!!!
What is that lob… Still ends up with 2
I saw that coming on the multiple switches
im not even mad at stat there. at least he tied
So glad to see JR get benched. Long overdue
Stat makes a dumb mistake.
This is where the IQ starts to hurt us.
Shump!!!
Play some Dlets phuckin go here
Wow, SHUMP is a new guy
its amazing when shump is allowed to shoot once in a while, he starts to hit
if someone hit wade like that he would still be rolling around on the floor
Shame there. Bargs just played good one on one …birdman flies in from strong side to get weak side bound.
Dude, no one is stopping Shump from shooting. Good lord.
Win or lose. I am content.
No JR
Strong effort from Bargnani in every quarter.
Melo is dangerous and so is Stat.
One of the best games I have seen this year, period.
continuous full court presser on james by Melo. Who is this guy.
This is fun
the reality is, stat and bargs are bad defenders. however, i never get upset about it as long as they at least pay attention and TRY to play defense. amare has actually tried on defense today for the most part, has paid attnetion for the most part, and hit the defensive boards. same for bargs, except he has paid slightly less attention. if they just gave solid effort every night on defense, we would be so much better at the 4
Melo always embraces the defensive challenge against Lebron and other big name guys. Shame he doesn’t do the same to the other guys most of the time. He can be a very good defender. Only real weakness is getting over screens.
Shump is killing it tonight. Makes the team so much better. I’d be fine with no more JR all season.
Probably a better performance than the San Antonio game, and that was really good, too!
This is alot of fun.
I think the SHump shooting thing is somewhere in between. He was passing up shots and missing those he was taking but they did not run him off many screens. It seems they run him off of screens more and his is confident in his shot so he doesn’t hesitate.
@133. Bargs on Lebron Isos are strangely effective defense so long as you realize that poster dunks are only worth 2 points.
ruru. this is the NBA. i thought you were an insider on this league. play and sets are run for people most of the time. the knicks do nothing to include shump in the offense. its a shame, because when included in the flow, he can contribute. but we know, shumps just another one of those guys holding your hero melo down
shump isn’t really getting plays called for him. He wasn’t taking shots when he lacked confidence shooting. It’s a simple game sometimes. Now he’s hunting and he should be. That’s the guy we saw at the end of last year and the Indy series.
I LOVE that pass by Melo to Stat.
Stat stuffed by rim… Then brick.
Come on stat, u my boy
Bargnani is pretty good at trapping pick and roll. Any defensive play in front of him he’s generally pretty good.
ghost whistle
can we just do what the suns did to beasley and release JR in a manner that would clear cap space?
wow,that sucked. bargs’ d on lebron is like the bad boxer that great boxers are afraid of, because hes so awkward, you cant read him.
If Felton makes that shot, Knicks will win.
The Heat haven’t stopped the Knicks 4-out high pnr the last two years.
So, I’m very happy with this game… Bit why has Bargs been phased out In 4th
Melo passing like Bird.
agree with that last point ruru. that is how we spread them out last year
Some amazing assists tonight
Great performance by the Knicks tonight. And wow look at that, no JR!
Where did this Knick team come from?
Suck it LBJ
Melo has great hand eye ball awareness. It’s really impressive. That slow mo was awesome.
Bargs has played 39 minutes. Probably just resting.
Melo defending like Clyde.
Have to say, very impressed (and shocked lol) by the Knicks D in the 4th quarter.
KJG, we cant have it both ways. we have been begging woodson to phase bargs out in the 4th on this board for weeks. if he was in and we lose, we would all complain (including me). although, he is clearly our lebron stopper now
If the Heat help on the dive man, Melo kills them. If they go under the screen, Felton can make the open jumper. If Felton hits Melo on the wing and the second rotation is late, Melo finds the dive man.
All of this opens up because Felton is an excellent pnr player. He’s so much better on offense than his stats.
Shump is close to a double double, needs one more reb, and Melo needs 2
First to 100 will win.
Sweet
They’ve been building toward this.
So good not to see JR dribbling away the clock, taking poor shots and makes stupid plays.
Not only us it horrible to watch, it sucks the life out of the Knicks. And THard does a lot of what JR does.
Murry has been profound.
Huge 3 by Anthony!!!
Please no more heartbreaks!
Dagger
Lebron sags and Melo makes him pay from 3.
Very exciting to see STAT out there, regardless of how he’s playing. So many wrote him off and yet here he is giving crunch time minutes to this team. My personal Favorite Knick since that 2010 season
Not the best shot by Anthony
Amar’e with a double double. Why aren’t the balloons coming down?
No JR, even Felton looks good!
I understand the boards feelings. Its just that he was a huge part of this for 3qs… But yes, he is the 1 on 1 stopper for this team clearly… When he has those happy feet with perimeter D, he frightens the offensive player for sure ..
100. There it is!
The high double pnr has basically been an unstoppable play for the Knicks. Never understood why the guy who designed it fails to stick with it. They have tonight, and the Heat have no answers.
yeah, have to admit Ray has been really good tonight. Easily his best game this year.
Wow. What a game. Close it out, men.
We can sleep well tonight, that’s all that matters
Agreed
Make Miami foul. Run the clock.
i know that i will be pissed at him again soon (or he will get hurt), but amare seems to have found a role. he has been really hitting the defensive boards, and if he has a guy who he can beat (he can beat birdman like a drum down low), then he goes at him. but the key is at least trying on defense and hitting those boards. im happy for him and hope he continues to embrace this role (the antonio mcdyess with the pistons role)
THJ is the player Smith used to be, and that’s pretty good.
Bargs has extremely low awareness in most help situations, but his lateral movement is good for a 7-footer, and we know how well he defends the post.
Felton with 14 asts and only 2 to.
Me 2
42 min for Shump, 12, 9, and 3. No turnovers. +14. so much better when he gets JR’s minutes.
Amen.
The last word from Melo.
Nice and easy. We own 2014
First time ever Im happy a Hardaway was on the winning team of a Knicks-Heat game.
Lebron is smiling he doesn’t care about winning.
Doing it without Jr.
Priceless
25 assists
Another ass kicking. Is it possible the Knicks just have the Heats number? At any rate it will be excrutiating to hear the talking heads on TNT and the commute try to explain it away.
10 TOs
43-32 on the boards
Now THAT is a team win!!! Fuck JR!
Hey Melo knew they were playing Philly next. Yay
So Melo didn’t know the Knicks were playing Miami but Knows the knicks will play Philly. He must of read the comments earlier and stepped up his focus. lol.
When Chandler comes back, and with Murry part of the rotation, the Knicks have the personnel to run Woodson’s switching defense.
Amar’e has to be covered up, Felton is a liability, but everyone else is at least passable on the ball. The problem isn’t the switching, it’s the unnecessary double-teams after the switch.
Felton 14 assists.
I must say I enjoy a Back pf the jersey hanging out full court pressing many really great passing Melo
I know its heresy to say this, but there are a LOT of winnable games left this month. Pretty much every one besides the game in Indiana. This might actually be turning around…
I’m sure I just jinxed it though.
Good coaching.
Use Bargnani to do the things he does well.
Keep JR on the bench until he comes around or goes AWOL.
Let Shumpert be Shumpert.
Melo as weak side 3 off of the PnR is lethal.
Defensive intensity.
Murry played so much better tonight than against Detroit.
THJ (as Ruruland said) is who JR was – but with NBA pedigree.
Amare was very good at the front of the rim.
Would have been content win or lose.
Really happy with the win.
Good point
Fuck Kenny and fatass.
Can’t give the Knicks their due.
No class
to be fair, Kenny is actually a Knicks fan and plays the foil to Barkley.
i believe its both the switching and the double teaming. quicker, active defenders like shump, TH2, and toure should be able to get through screens anyways though. i really hope toure continues to play even when beno and prigs get back. i think hes better than beno now, and can provide things that prigs doesnt. plus, with JR planted on the pine, it should allow for some 2 pg sets
Great win!
Murry should simply take Jr’s minutes.
A true team effort, all 8 players contributed to the win. And it really is not a coincidence that JR didn’t play, he’s just a huge negative whenever he’s on the court. Keep his ass on the bench please.
This. Kenny is usually the Knick supporter between the two. Also, Barkley usually does make good points though. Prior to everyone feeling goof and happy with this win, he didn’t say anything else that most of us haven’t thought for most of this season. His assessment of Shump was off, but other than that you can’t really argue with the guy when he says we’ve been a bad team all season and that a few wins doesn’t mean anything yet.
There may be a correlation between Knicks defensive intensity and JR time in the bench.
Is it weird to think Bargs is a better option at Center against some teams on both ends. Teams like Houston, Miami, OKC and Indy I think Bargs can do his thing. I would like to see Tyson matched up on West though. Idk, it just seems Bargs plays better with Martin than with Tyson against some teams. Is it the passing and a better understanding of spacing by Martin(I notice this last year too)?
I could be on a win high.
I’m a little stunned.
Kind of conditioned to wait for the other shoe to drop.
But as much as I believe JR should never play, Woodson is soft on JR. HE’s going back to him.
Woodson doesn’t like playing rookies if he can avoid it…
Durant gets the Wade Finals whistle every game.
James Dolan just hired Cesar Milan as a special assistant.
Yeah, one of the things I tried to explain to people when the Knicks were courting Martin was how smart he is on both ends and how well he passes around the elbow area.
I don’t think he likes Bargnani at all but you can tell helping him out in the screen game. The Knicks run some of their offense through Martin at the elbow because he’s a good passer and teams back off of him.
Whoever does the wrap-up has to comment on Melo’s passing tonight. He had five assists and at least two other great passes to Amar’e that led to fouls or easy missed shots.
TH2 isn’t who JR used to be. He’s who ya’ll thought Bargs would be. He’s Novak who can finish above the rim.
Melo has truly been great this year. Definitely earning max money.
One thing we need to work on is transition decision-making. Seems like every game we come up empty several times on steals leading to 2 on 1 or 3 on 2 opportunities.
I realize that I’m stating the obvious, but this has been a pretty impressive 5 game stretch by our Knicks. Maybe this isn’t going to be a lost season after all.
J.R. Smith was asked if he believes his future is w/the #Knicks: “Honestly, I don’t even know at this point. At one point I was for sure.”
GK will be the No.1 NBA analyst for ESPN soon. First good one they’ve had in awhile.
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=10272120
Having a healthy Felton makes a big difference. After the first couple of minutes he did a great job of keeping the offense moving- when they fronted Melo he didn’t spend 10 seconds trying to enter the ball to him, he just looked to get per action happening with either Stat or Bargnani which kept the offense from bogging down. That (and his ability to drive and kick) makes the game a lot easier for Melo- less time spent wrestling for position and more spot up opportunities.
Also, nice to see JR smiling at the end of the game- he sulked early but seemed genuinely happy about the win. He’s a total knucklehead but I don’t think he’s a bad teammate- everyone seems to really like the guy.
What a roller coaster season. I was sure this was a lost season, but this resurrection has lifted my spirit. I hunger for meaningful basketball. The knicks have showed they can rewrite their narrative, that they can control their destiny. I’m starting to believe again. Please don’t rip my heart out again. Lets go Knicks!!!!
While I approve of the JR decision, I think it is pretty weird that JR wasn’t ever told he wouldn’t play. That seems rather odd.
As much as I think Felton should be 2nd or 3rd on the PG depth chart, you can probably call him the 3rd most important player on the Knicks. I read somewhere Felton+Melo+Chandler had only played 100+ minutes together as opposed to 600+ around this same time last year. That’s big, man.