The Feed: Miami Heat vs. New York Knicks [11/02/12].

Recap:

In the opening night at the Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks defended their home court with a 104 to 84 victory over the Miami Heat. I guess the old guys must have been drinking their milk and eating their vitamins because they completely shut down all of Heat's role players and managed to keep all their joints intact.

Miami never led in this game, the big three combined for a total of 50 points, led by LeBron's 23 points and 7 rebounds, Wade's 15 and Bosh's 12/11. They had absolutely no help, besides Rashard Lewis (16 points), no one scored more than 6 points.

You would have thought that maybe Hurricane Sandy might affect New York a little, but they were on fire today, knocking down 19 three pointers, 5 of which came from Steve Novak, who finished with 17 points in the blowout win. Carmelo Anthony led all scorers with 30 points, 10 rebounds and put on a defensive clinic with the rest of his team forcing 21 turnovers, which is a sentence that I never thought I would ever have to type.


Offensive Set:

The Heat didn't run the ball like they did against Boston, and they suffered. Majority of the time, they just stood around and watched LeBron make something happen, the usual cuts and energy was not present. There were a few pick and rolls here and there and that was about it.

The Knicks exploited Miami's ball handler trap, recognizing it early and allowed threes followed by more threes. They start most possessions with a high Tyson Chandler screen, which activates the trap. Chandler quickly rolls, making the perimeter defender (Shane Battier) come down to help, leaving one of the wings wide open for a three. The key was quick ball movement with dribble penetration, and a surprisingly low amount of Melo isolation plays.

Defensive Set:

Miami was not themselves today, their quick rotations weren't always there, especially with Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, who were both slower on the move. The ball handler trap was in effect, but New York was quick to move the ball and it turned out to hurt them.

I haven't seem New York play such great defense in the Melo era since, ever. The individual defense was amazing, they moved quick and bothered everything. Tyson held it down, and altered any shot that came his way.

The Moments:

• Jason Kidd tipped one of LeBron's passes into his own basket.

• Am I the only one that is super bummed that Iman Shumpert was injured and we didn't get a flat top off between Norris Cole and him? Completely ruined my Friday.
• SHEEEEEEEDDDDDD!

• Unfortunately, he didn't get called for a technical, which is super disappointing.

Rookie Watch:

 

Nothing today.