Heat defeat Knicks 102-88

The New York Knicks traveled to South Beach to take on the Miami Heat. The Knicks were looking for their second consecutive win and try to get their record above .500 heading into the break. This game was close early on, but the Heat were able to control the game and forced the Knicks to turn the ball over.

The Knicks failed to control the tempo which led to the Heat playing the way they wanted. This lost is no big deal, but the Knicks will have to play much better starting next Wednesday. Jeremy Lin was held in check tonight by the Miami defense. They put pressure on Lin early and often which caused him to think too much. Lin can take tonight’s game and learn from it, but expect Lin to comeback much better in the second half of the season. Lin scored 8 points and dished out 6 assists tonight. He also had 8 turnovers which could be contributed to being tired.

Carmelo Anthony had 19 points, but couldn’t hit his shot consistently. The Knicks needed a better effort from Anthony tonight and didn’t get it. His teammate Amare Stoudemire continues to struggle as he scored just 13 points. Stoudemire was very effective early on, but in the second half he struggled to score. The Knicks have a lot to do during this break and incorporating the two superstars needs to be priority number one. There is no excuse for their lack of play and if they don’t change the team will suffer.

JR Smith and Steve Novak played very well off the bench as they scored a collective 26 points. They were very effective while on the floor, but their performances will go unnoticed in this lost. Baron Davis struggled in his 14 minutes as he missed all 7 of his shots. Davis will have a much better second half, but right now he is just getting all of his rust off.

The Knicks will have a nice resting period and hopefully they can get healthy and rest. This game really showed the Knicks that they aren’t ready for a team like the Heat, but once healthy they could possibly give them a good run. The Knicks next game is Wednesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.