This game had two very different parts, but it was clear that when Miami plays at their best, there isn't a team in the league that can really defeat them on a 7-games playoff series. The Knicks did a great defensive job during the first half. They switched as usual on defense, they trapped on pick and rolls, while Tyson Chandler was always on the right defensive spots. With this, Miami couldn't create danger on pick and rolls and more important than that, they commit a tons of turnovers, something unusual on them! The final stats tell us exactly that: Miami committed 16 turnovers and the Knicks scored 28 points off them. The old and slow Knicks scored 18 fast break points, equaling their season high!
The problem was the second half where Miami simply turned on the switch. Carmelo Anthony had a huge first half, but Coach Spoelstra assigned Lebron James to guard him in most one-on-one situations and Melo had tough times to create easy looks for him. Miami's speed was incredible and their ability to close out on the perimeter is great. When they play like this, spot up shooters like Steve Novak are practically useless and that was clear with Novak shooting 0-3 FG in 12 minutes. With the bigger aggressiveness from the Heat's defense, the Knicks (#1 in the league in TO/rate) committed 18 turnovers and when you turn the ball over so much against the Heat, you simply can't beat them! The only good stretch of the Knicks on the second half was when they ran multiple pick and rolls with Amare Stoudemire being the roll man with success, but Coach Woodson oddly left Amare on the bench down the stretch.
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