“This is the team that’s going to give the Heat the most trouble because they have the perimeter players,” Johnson said on the radio show.
Dec 072012
Dec 072012
You might recall a Miami Heat win over the Los Angeles Lakers from back in March of 2011 , one that saw Kobe Bryant decide to take an impromptu postgame shooting session in full view of reporters after a poor performance in that game’s fourth quarter. Kobe enjoyed plenty of plaudits following that post-performance performance, while some of us shook our head at the showiness of it all. Because the Miami arena has a practice court that Kobe knew all about, and he didn’t have to turn his basketball penance into a “look at me!” event.
On Thursday night, Miami Heat All-Star LeBron James pulled the same junk after an embarrassing Heat loss to the New York Knicks. Except that … he didn’t.
James used that practice court, declining to share his reps for the snapping cell phones of the waiting media. And after that, much like Kobe in 2011, James came clean about Miami’s lost week to reporters. From ESPN’s Brian Windhorst , who was in the scrum for all of our benefit:
LeBron went thru an extended workout after the game on the practice court. Said Knicks “kicked our ass” & he “had to get better”
Dec 072012
Christopher Trotman/NBAE/Getty Images
There was a little too much of this on Thursday night for the Heat’s beleaguered defense.
Chris Bosh says it’s the frenetic pace. LeBron James says it’s about communication. Shane Battier says it’s all in the head. Erik Spoelstra says it’s execution.
However you diagnose the Miami Heat’s defensive meltdown against the New York Knicks, and the champs’ general listlessness all season, they’re a total wreck on that end of the floor.
Dec 072012
After leading scorer and signature star Carmelo Anthony was downgraded from a game-time decision to out for the New York Knicks’ matchup with the Miami Heat, plenty of Knicks fans wondered just how New York was going to score enough to keep the Thursday night tilt interesting.
After all, this was a Knicks squad starting Kurt Thomas, Ronnie Brewer and Tyson Chandler, who aren’t exactly prime-time scorers; that figured to feature a lot of shots by hot-and-cold types like Raymond Felton, J.R. Smith and Rasheed Wallace; and that would be facing a Miami defense that, while certainly nowhere near the wrecking crew that ended last season, still seemed quick and aggressive enough to gum up the Knicks’ ball-movement-heavy offense once it no longer had to key on Anthony, the NBA’s third-leading scorer and the Knicks’ unquestioned offensive focal point. With the proverbial head of the snake already cut off, how would the Knicks adjust?
The answer, apparently: Become a hydra and attack from everywhere . Including, and most notably, from long range:
With Anthony out of the lineup, the Knicks ran pick-and-roll after pick-and-roll, swinging the ball around the court like mad to stretch Miami’s unsettled switch/hedge-heavy defense until its shape was distorted, and then routinely made one more little pass for an even more wide-open shot, frequently behind the 3-point arc. The result: 44 3-point attempts and 18 makes in a stunning 112-92 blitz . (They also took 47 shots from 2-point range and made 23 of those, but they weren’t as pretty to look at or as valuable.)
Dec 072012
You might recall a Miami Heat win over the Los Angeles Lakers from back in March of 2011 , one that saw Kobe Bryant decide to take to an impromptu postgame shooting session in full view of reporters after a poor performance in that game’s fourth quarter. Kobe enjoyed plenty of plaudits following that post-performance performance, while some of us shook our head at the showiness of it all. Because the Miami arena has a practice court that Kobe knew all about, and he didn’t have to turn his basketball penance into a “look at me!” event.
On Thursday night, Miami Heat All-Star LeBron James pulled the same junk after an embarrassing Heat loss to the New York Knicks. Except that … he didn’t.
James used that practice court, declining to share his reps for the snapping cell phones of the waiting media. And after that, much like Kobe in 2011, James came clean about Miami’s lost week to reporters. From ESPN’s Brian Windhorst , who was in the scrum for all of our benefit:
LeBron went thru an extended workout after the game on the practice court. Said Knicks “kicked our ass” & he “had to get better”
Dec 072012
After a second straight loss, James tries to light a fire under his teammates
Dec 072012
MIAMI, Dec 6 (Reuters) – The New York Knicks enjoyed a second 20-point win over the defending NBA champion Miami Heat in just over a month on Thursday, giving them the belief that this year they can compete when it matters in the post-season. Last year, New York lost all three regular season games to their Eastern Conference rivals Miami and then fell 4-1 to the Heat in the first round of the playoffs. For Knicks center Tyson Chandler, who was part of the Dallas Mavericks team that defeated the Heat in the 2011 finals, Thursday’s victory was a big psychological boost. …
Dec 072012
If “live by the three, die by the three” is the New York Knicks mantra, they’re doing plenty of living against the Miami Heat.
The Knicks shot 18-of-44 on 3-point attempts against the Heat on Thursday after shooting 19-of-36 on 3-pointers against Miami earlier this season. The Knicks are the first team in NBA history to make at least 18 3-pointers in consecutive games against an opponent, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Perhaps the Knicks know by now that the Heat have trouble defending their outside jumpers.
Dec 062012
MIAMI (AP) — Raymond Felton scored a season-high 27 points, and the New York Knicks connected on 18 3-pointers to more than offset the absence of Carmelo Anthony while topping Miami for the second time this season, beating the Heat 112-92 on Thursday night.
Dec 062012
Recap of HEAT.com’s live chat during Miami’s loss to an incredible shooting display by the Knicks.