New York Cools Down Miami

The weather wasn’t the only thing cold in New York last week. The Miami Heat lost their steam in the Big Apple against both the Knicks and the Nets, which both had great games against the Heat. The Knicks capped off their four-in- a-row winning streak last night in Philadelphia, winning against the 76ers, 102-92.  While that was a great win, nothing is as sweet as beating LeBron and company. So, let’s take a closer look at Miami’s northern freeze by summing these games up.

---

First, the Heat against the Knicks on Thursday, January 9th: The whole game was a LeBron-Anthony show. LeBron does a dunk and Carmelo pops a three. It was so fun to watch. At the end of the half, the Heat led by 5. The Heat had momentum, but the Knicks had more. By the end of third, the Knicks regained the lead to make it 75-71. In true New York style, the Knicks sent chills down the backs of Miami fans as their team was toppled 102-90. LeBron ended up with 32 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. He also had 6 turnovers. Wade had 23 points. However, he had a plus-minus of -14 and went 0-6 from the free throw line. The Knicks had a much better stat line. Carmelo Anthony had 29 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and only 2 turnovers.

---

Felton ended with 13 points and 14 assists, Stoudemire got 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Andrea Bargnani got 19 points and 5 rebounds. Iman Shumpert kept up his great play with 12 points, shot 50% from the field and got 9 boards. And I think J.R. Smith on the bench was a good call by Woodson. Overall, the Knicks played great and all I cared about was the win.

Next, the Heat headed over to Brooklyn on Friday, January 10th. The Nets-Heat game went into double-overtime and was exciting from start to finish. At the end of the first half, the Nets were up, 53-45. The Heat were still not doing good as the Nets took a 12 point lead at the end of the third, making the score 76-64. The Heat began to warm up a little to tie it at 89, extending the game into its first overtime.

---

LeBron failed in the clutch again when he tried to tie the game at 93-91 but charged into Shaun Livingston instead, which fouled him out of the game. This was LeBron’s first time fouling out since April 2nd, 2008 against Charlotte in the regular season, which I think is absolutely ridiculous and the refs should open their eyes when it comes to LeBron and fouls but I will save that for another blog. Anyway, Norris Cole hit a jumpshot to tie it up so they went into their second overtime period. The Nets then outscored them 11-2 to finish them off with a 104-95 victory. The Nets’ plus-minus were incredible as Paul Pierce had a +21 plus-minus with 23 points, Joe Johnson and Kevin Garnett both had a plus-minus of +18, Shaun Livingston had a +11, and Alan Anderson had a +10. Johnson had 32 points, Garnett had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and my player of the game, Shaun Livingston had 19 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists while playing 51 minutes. Great job by both teams getting W’s while to cool off the Miami Heat.

While the temps were certainly tough for New Yorkers, it was a great week to be a Knicks or Nets fan. I thought both teams played well and I was very happy. Thanks for reading and let me know what you think. Please comment.