Heat-Knicks Preview

By MATT BECKER
Posted Apr 14 2012 2:41PM

Much has been made of the Miami Heat's inability to beat teams with winning records on the road.

If they can't find a way Sunday, it might not bode well for their chances of making a run for the championship.

In a potential first-round playoff series preview, the Heat again hope to shake their recent road woes in a matinee against a New York Knicks team looking to reel off a 10th straight victory at Madison Square Garden.

Miami (41-17) bounced back from a 96-86 overtime loss in Chicago on Thursday with an easy 105-82 victory over woeful Charlotte a night later. LeBron James had 19 points and nine assists and got to rest the fourth quarter, while Dwyane Wade sat out the game with a sprained right ankle. Wade is expected to play Sunday.

"It was important for us to get better tonight and get a win," James said.

Although Miami got back in the win column, it might not have entirely removed the sting from the defeat at the United Center.

That loss essentially locked the Heat into second place in the Eastern Conference and raised more questions about their problems beating good teams away from Miami. They've lost eight of nine road games against teams with winning records since the All-Star break, with their lone victory coming over rapidly fading Philadelphia.

"We need to play well because we haven't played well after the break on the road," James said looking ahead to Sunday's game at MSG. "I don't know if it's a statement game, but we want to play better than we have on the road. It's a good place to play knowing more than likely we'll play them in the first round."

New York (31-28) took control of seventh in the East with Friday's 103-65 win over Charlotte, coupled with the 76ers' home loss to New Jersey. Friday's lopsided victory was the Knicks' 13th in 17 games and ninth in a row at MSG. This is their longest home winning streak since a 10-game run from Nov. 4-Dec. 22, 1997.

"We want to protect our home court," Carmelo Anthony said. "We want to make this one of the toughest places to come in and play and come in and win, and as of late we've been doing that and we want to keep that going."

New York is outscoring teams by an average of 20.5 points during its home winning streak and limiting opponents to an average of 83.3 points on 38.6 percent shooting while forcing 20.0 turnovers per game.

The Knicks' suddenly stout defense at MSG could pose problems for the Heat, who are averaging 83.8 points and 17.3 turnovers in losing their last four road games to teams over .500.

Miami has won its first two meetings with New York - both at home - but this Knicks team will have a different look, yet again.

The Heat beat New York 99-89 on Jan. 27, but Anthony (wrist) didn't play. Nor did Jeremy Lin, who had not yet become a household name. Lin, Anthony and Amare Stoudemire all played in the second meeting Feb. 23, but Miami prevailed 102-88 behind 25 points from Chris Bosh.

James has totaled 51 points on 52.9 percent shooting in his two games against the Knicks, while Wade has 50 on 51.2 percent shooting.

The Knicks are without Lin (left knee) and Stoudemire (back), but Anthony is having no trouble leading the way.

Anthony took a 30-point average over a nine-game stretch into Friday, before scoring 18 in limited time with his team cruising to a 38-point win.

It likely won't be as easy against Miami.

"It's another big game for us, another exciting game," said Anthony, who had 19 points on 7-of-20 shooting in his lone game against the Heat. "It'll be fun, the Garden will be rocking. Everybody will be watching. What better game to play in then Sunday against Miami?"

Heat beat Knicks 93-85, clinch Southeast Division

By BRIAN MAHONEY
Posted Apr 15 2012 5:16PM

NEW YORK (AP) The Miami Heat finally came to Madison Square Garden, a sea of orange surrounding them in what looked like a playoff game.

Maybe that's all it took to bring out their best on the road.

LeBron James had 29 points and 10 rebounds, Dwyane Wade added 28 points and nine boards, and the Heat overcame Carmelo Anthony's 42 points to beat the New York Knicks 93-85 on Sunday to clinch the Southeast Division title.

Originally scheduled to be here in November, the Heat's lone regular-season game in New York came with the compressed regular season coming to a close - and with a chance they'll be back again soon.

"This is obviously a lot of our favorite places to play, but I think it came at a good time for us," Wade said. "We were struggling, as in to play a complete game on the road, and what better place to come in and focus then here, where this team has been playing well and can embarrass you if you don't play your game. So understanding that this could obviously be a first-round matchup as well, I thought today we came in, we didn't play amazing, but played good enough to win the game. We did a lot of good things, so it was a good time for it."

Chris Bosh finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Heat, who pulled away in the fourth quarter of a possible playoff preview. Miami is second in the Eastern Conference and the Knicks came into the game tied for seventh, although they fell back behind Philadelphia after the loss.

Anthony had only two baskets in the fourth quarter, perhaps tired from playing 43 minutes and with James switching over to defend him after Anthony had overwhelmed Shane Battier. New York had its nine-game home winning streak snapped.

Anthony had the Knicks hoping he could pull out another game against a power team after scoring a season-high 43 last Sunday in overtime against Chicago. His tip-in gave New York a two-point lead with 9 1/2 minutes left, but by the time he had his other field goal on a 3-pointer with 1:28 remaining, Miami had opened an 11-point cushion.

"It was all a blur. I don't even know what happened. It just happened so fast. They made some tough shots down the stretch the last couple of minutes of the game, the last six minutes of the game," Anthony said. "We couldn't make shots. We had some good looks. Couldn't make them. Didn't make them."

JR Smith scored 16 points for the Knicks, who lost all three games against the Heat. Still without the injured Amare Stoudemire and Jeremy Lin, New York didn't have the firepower to match Miami's Big Three for 48 minutes.

Wade moved easily and shot 10 of 18 after missing the last game to rest his ankle. Miami has won two in a row after back-to-back losses last week against Boston and Chicago.

"We got some defensive stops in Chicago, but were unable to close it out," James said. "Tonight we were able to make some shots from the floor and then come back down and get some big stops."

Despite their talent, the Heat haven't measured up on the road in recent weeks, perhaps the biggest concern about them heading into the postseason. They are only 17-13 outside Miami and hadn't beaten a team with a winning record in nearly a month.

"It's all about perseverance and just continuing to stay with it," Bosh said. "We know we're a great road team, we just have to go out there and prove it night in and night out and I think we're going to do a better job and continue to play well, and hopefully this will give us some momentum."

Miami held a few nine-point leads in the third, but the Knicks cut it to three by period's end, then got a tying 3-pointer from Steve Novak to open the fourth and Landry Fields followed with a basket to put New York ahead in the opening minute.

It was close for the next six minutes before Wade and James hit jumpers after Joel Anthony tipped in a miss, a flurry of six straight points that gave Miami an 87-80 lead. The Knicks, relying on jumpers most of the game, simply couldn't hit any, and lacked much inside presence when Tyson Chandler appeared slowed by knee pain after landing awkwardly in the third quarter.

Chandler said he was hurt on a "bad collision" but expected to play Tuesday against Boston.

"I really couldn't move when I got out there," he said. "I didn't have much strength on it. Moving laterally and trying to get up on the ball screen is difficult."

The Heat were scheduled to play their season opener here in the original 82-game schedule that was scrapped because of the lockout. They also would have opened here in a revised 72-game season that never developed when owners and players couldn't agree to a new deal in time.

Instead, they ended up being the last Eastern Conference team to visit Madison Square Garden, site of many fierce playoff matchups between the teams in the late 1990s.

It had a playoff look Sunday, with orange shirts being worn by fans all around the court - though not by Jay-Z and Beyonce sitting courtside.

Only the Heat looked playoff ready at the start. The Knicks missed their first three free throws and Miami led by as much as 11 in the first quarter before settling for a 29-22 advantage that would have been much bigger if not for Anthony's 14 points.

Miami stalled in the second quarter, Wade slamming the ball to the floor in frustration after one basket as the Knicks rallied behind Anthony and their reserves before the Heat took a 46-44 edge into halftime.

"I thought early we were a little jittery because we wanted to play so well coming out of the box and we didn't. But once we got back in the game I really thought we were playing at a nice pace in that second quarter to get back in," interim coach Mike Woodson said. "In the third quarter, I thought we had nothing offensively and then coming down the stretch we just didn't get it done."

The Heat had a brief scare in the third when James went down after twisting his ankle when he backpedaled into some fans after hitting a corner jumper. He stayed down for a moment but remained in the game after a timeout.

Notes: Wade played in his 594th game with the Heat, breaking Alonzo Mourning's record. ... The Heat have a short trip before playing again Monday, heading across the Hudson River to face the New Jersey Nets. ... Both Miami inactives were former Knicks centers: Ronny Turiaf and Eddy Curry. Coach Erik Spoelstra said the Heat wanted to give more time to rest a sore hamstring. ... Jared Jeffries played in the second half after needing three stitches to close a cut on his chin.

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Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney

Notebook: Heat 93, Knicks 85

Posted Sunday April 15, 2012 4:22PM

By Adam Zagoria, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Miami's Big Three combined for 73 points as the Heat won their third straight over the Knicks this season, 93-85, at Madison Square Garden.

Carmelo Anthony scored 42 points on 14-for-27 shooting in a losing effort for the Knicks, who dropped into eighth place, half a game behind the Philadelphia 76ers, in the Eastern Conference standings.

LeBron James led the Heat with 29 points and 10 rebounds, Dwyane Wade added 28 points and Chris Bosh posted 16 points and 14 boards.

QUOTABLE: "I don't think it means anything for the postseason. What it means is something about us and how we've been playing on the road as of late. We want to do a better job of it and the only way out is to get up, show up and collectively do better."
-- Heat coach Erik Spoelstra

QUOTABLE II: "You wanna win every game, especially on the road. We know we haven't played to our capabilities on the road."
-- James

THE STAT: The Heat were 3-8 in their last 11 road games before this win. The Knicks were 9-0 at home under Mike Woodson before this loss.

TURNING POINT: After the Knicks led 79-75 on a J.R. Smith dunk, Miami used an 18-3 run to go ahead 93-82. Joel Anthony, Wade and James scored six unanswered points during the spurt.

QUOTABLE III: "We'll be fine. We'll bounce back. We'll rebound from this and learn from it and hopefully be better."
-- Woodson

WHO'S HOT: Anthony continues to play like a new man under Woodson. He entered averaging 28.2 points in his last five games and has now scored 40 or more in two of his last five, including a season-best 43 in a home win over the Chicago Bulls.

WHO'S NOT: The Knicks Bench. Other than Smith (16 points), the bench of Steve Novak, Jared Jeffries and Mike Bibby managed just eight points.

QUOTABLE IV: "I feel good about our team. We played hard tonight."
-- Woodson

NOTABLE: Tyson Chandler injured his knee in the third quarter and exited the game, but returned in the fourth to finish with nine points and five rebounds. He was also whistled for a Flagrant Foul 1 against James. "He's gonna be ok. He banged knees. He'll get treatment [Monday] but he'll be fine," Woodson said.

QUOTABLE V: "I think I'll be OK. It's just a bad collision."
-- Chandler

INSIDE THE ARENA: Jay-Z, Beyonce, Jon Stewart, Justin Tuck and Hakeem Nix all sat courtside.

QUOTABLE VI: "It's tough to stop him, but it's even better to watch him."
-- Smith on Anthony.

UP NEXT: For the Knicks, Tuesday vs. Celtics, Wednesday @ Nets, Friday @ Cavaliers. For the Heat, Monday @ Nets, Wednesday vs. Raptors, Thursday vs. Bulls.

• Heat: Curry, Turiaf
• Knicks: Jordan, Lin, Stoudemire

• Heat: --
• Knicks: --

• Lead Changes: 8
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
• Officials: #13 Monty McCutchen, #7 Kevin Fehr, #71 Rodney Mott
• Attendance: 19763
• Duration: 2:29