ESPN NBA

MIAMI -- There was just something fundamentally wrong with the Miami Heat's defense the last time they faced Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks, earlier this month.

“In New York, the last game we played, he caught the ball wherever he wanted,” Heat forward Shane Battier said of Anthony, who torched Miami for 42 points in that April 15 meeting at Madison Square Garden. “He's too good of a player to let him catch where he wants to catch and operate. That was not a very good defensive plan by us.”

It didn't take long to figure out the scheme Miami threw at Anthony on Saturday in Game 1 of this first-round playoff series would produce drastically different results this time around.

By swarming Anthony with multiple defenders and forcing him beyond his comfort zone on the perimeter, the Heat shut down the Eastern Conference's reigning player of the month. It set the tone for a historic defensive performance as the Heat smothered the Knicks in a 100-67 victory to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Anthony missed his first seven shots and didn't make his first basket from the field until late in the second quarter. By then, the Heat were well on their way to putting on a defensive clinic. Miami set franchise records for opponent turnovers (27) and points scored off turnovers (38). The Knicks matched their postseason franchise low with 67 points in a game that essentially was over after the Heat outscored them 30-13 in the decisive second quarter.

“Their game plan was to speed us up,” said Anthony, who finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds but shot just 3-of-15 from the field and had four turnovers. “We were speeding out there, rushing a lot of things out there. Offensively, we never felt in rhythm. We just have to go back, look at some film, see what happened. But most importantly for me and for my team, we're just going to remain positive. The fun starts now. They did a great job of winning Game 1 on their own court, and we still have a chance to come out in Game 2 and get back.”

The Heat anticipate Anthony will make an adjustment after being forced into the third-worst shooting performance of his postseason career, which spans 50 games. The only worse outings were a 3-of-16 effort with Denver in Game 4 of the conference finals against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 and a 1-of-16 display in a Game 4 loss to Minnesota in the first round of the 2004 playoffs.

What the Heat did to effectively take Anthony out of his game Saturday started with LeBron James fronting him and making it nearly impossible for guards to get the ball to Anthony on the wing. Battier also spent significant time mixing up coverages on Anthony. And when he did get the ball, Anthony immediately turned and faced a second defender when he looked to make a move to the basket.

Two weeks earlier, the Heat had watched Anthony score 14 in the first quarter and 22 of the Knicks' 44 points in the first half. Anthony also attempted 15 free throws in that 93-85 loss to the Heat. But Miami was determined not to allow another hot start for Anthony, who rolled into the playoffs in the midst of his most productive month of the season.

“He's going to get his touches. He's going to make great shots,” James said of the strategy on Anthony. “Just try to make it tough on him. Now that he knows we're fronting him, we might have something different for Game 2. Our strategy and our system worked for Game 1. He's going to make adjustments like all great players do.”

The Heat's defensive mastery reflected a team coach Erik Spoelstra said played much closer to its identity. Despite the record-setting results, it wasn't an aberration. Instead, it was a team executing its routine defensive scheme. The Heat had limited opponents to 43.4 percent shooting from the field during the season but stymied the Knicks into just 35.7 percent Saturday. Miami had forced about 17 turnovers a game during the season but got 10 more than that average against New York.

Anthony's struggles extended to his teammates. The Knicks' starters shot a combined 9-of-28 and had 17 turnovers.

“The most important thing was our activity and commitment to that energy level,” Spoelstra said. “Teams like [New York] make it very tough, when you have 3-point shooters and multiple guys who can put the ball on the floor and break your defense down. We were able to be aggressive enough to close the gaps and make them miss some openings. They will make adjustments. But that look and our mentality, that has to be regenerated again.”

The Heat, on many levels, presented a look that caught Anthony off guard. Miami might have to change up the strategy in Game 2 on Monday. But Anthony anticipates the Heat's defensive priorities will remain the same.

“No, I wasn't expecting that,” Anthony said of how he was defended by Miami. “From the last time that we played them, I think they made some major adjustments out there. Fronting me, sending me down to the bigs, showing me two or three guys at a time. It was an adjustment that they made. And now it's time to make our adjustment.”

WASHINGTON – With a compacted end to the season, the arrival of the playoffs has felt a little rushed.

Not to LeBron James. To him, these playoffs have been a long wait.

“I’ve been ready for this moment,” James said Thursday, “for a while now.”

James and the rest of the Heat showed no interest in the final game of the regular season Thursday night, losing to the Washington Wizards 104-70. They were more interested in the out-of-town scoreboard, which eventually settled that they’ll begin the postseason against the New York Knicks on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

The Heat, and James especially, are in a position that no other team faces. If they do not win the championship, they are a failure. For every other team, just reaching the Finals would signify advancement. Even for the defending champion Dallas Mavericks, who retrofitted their team after winning it all.

For the Heat, if they go 0-for-2 with James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, there is nowhere to hide. They are on the clock, and with the postseason here, that reality is loud.

“We’re built to win a championship,” James said. “I’ve been preparing from that moment on to get back to this point in the postseason, so I’m looking forward to it.”

James has told plenty of stories of how the Heat’s loss in the Finals affected him. There was the two weeks of sitting in his room, not talking to anyone. There was his refusal to take phone calls offering encouragement. He didn’t even shave.

Then there was the work. His long bike rides down the Cuyahoga River Valley near his home in Ohio. The grueling sessions with his trainers in the pool. The two-a-day workouts with Kevin Durant that they dubbed “hell week.”

All of it with the thoughts of another chance in mind, a chance that starts this weekend.

“This is the biggest stage, it’s a second season,” James said. “For myself, this is a big part of my season, the best part of my season, so there’s going to be pressure, pressure moments, and you just got to believe in your ability and believe in your teammates and believe in the system, and then you live with it.”

It starts with the Knicks, a team the Heat have been eyeing for several weeks now. Miami was 3-0 against the Knicks this season. That includes an eight-point win on April 15 in New York that signified one of the most complete victories in the second half of the season.

There are intriguing matchups, most especially James on Carmelo Anthony. It will be the first time the two 2003 draft stars have matched up in the postseason. They will likely guard each other much of the time, adding an extra layer of interest.

There’s the question of how the Heat will deal with Knicks big man Tyson Chandler, the basket protector who played a huge role in the Mavericks’ victory over Miami in last year’s Finals.

There’s the showdown of the Knicks' streaky 3-point shooters, Steve Novak and J.R. Smith, against the Heat’s famously suspect 3-point defense.

Above and beyond the X's and O's, though, is this: the Heat versus expectations. That is what the Heat will fight. For the second consecutive season, Miami began the campaign as the favorite to win the title. This is not a new concept and not one the Heat deny.

“There’s only one champion; it’s a failure for every other team.” Wade said. “If we don’t win a championship, you had a failed year. No moral victories. You have to win the championship.”

The question posed to LeBron James wasn't specific enough.

As the Miami Heat shifted their focus to Sunday's showdown against New York at Madison Square Garden, James was asked what he thought about the Knicks this season.

His answer: Which version of them?

“We've all seen so many different teams from the Knicks this year,” James said of a squad that has endured a coaching change and multiple lineup tweaks and altered its style of play in just the past six weeks. “We've seen them in the beginning, without [Jeremy] Lin, then with Lin in the lineup. Without Amare [Stoudemire], then with Amare. Now [Carmelo Anthony] is playing [power forward], which is a matchup problem for everybody. So it's a different team, but it's a really good team.”

To suggest the Knicks have gone through a few changes since the last time the Heat saw them in late February would be an understatement -- sort of like saying J.R. Smith has a few tattoos. A more accurate assessment would be that the Knicks have gone through a makeover wrapped around a facelift stuffed inside an in-season rebuilding job.

And through it all, James and the Heat see the Knicks as a team that has emerged as a more focused and formidable threat. The Knicks also could end up as Miami's first-round playoff opponent if the current standings in the Eastern Conference hold to form, with the Heat essentially locked in as the No. 2 seed and the Knicks sitting in seventh place.

But these aren't the Knicks who were demolished by the Heat in a 102-88 loss Feb. 23 in Miami. James said he remembers that game “like it was yesterday.” For the Heat, that previous meeting came when they were in the midst of their most dominant stretch of the season. The Knicks were the eighth of nine consecutive opponents Miami defeated by a double-digit margin, a remarkable run that ended a game after the All-Star break.

The Heat, who have gone just 15-10 since last beating New York, haven't been quite the same team since then. But then again, neither have the Knicks.

Back then, Mike D'Antoni was clinging to his job with a team deep in turmoil and beset by injuries. Now, under assistant-turned-interim coach Mike Woodson, the Knicks are rooted in accountability and have resurrected themselves into a team that seems to be peaking in time for the postseason.

Back then, Anthony was banged up and looked somewhat washed up as he struggled to find a productive role and rhythm. Now, he has regained a bit of his swagger and is back to being one of the most prolific scorers in the league, having averaged 30 points a game in April.

Back then, Linsanity engulfed New York. Now, with Lin out of the lineup and recovering from knee surgery, the backcourt hype has been all about 21 “Shump” Street. Knicks rookie Iman Shumpert has regained a prominent role in the rotation that he once lost to Lin, and has developed into a versatile defender and productive scorer. Smith, one of the league's streakiest scorers, was signed in March to provide a spark off the bench, and Steve Novak has become as lethal a 3-point threat as anyone in the NBA.

Six weeks have made a significant difference.

There are tangible results to prove it.

The Knicks were 18-24 when D'Antoni stepped down but have since gone 13-4 under Woodson, a proven defensive-minded coach who was an assistant on Detroit's 2005 championship team and later guided Atlanta to perennial playoff appearances.

New York has gone from giving up 96.5 points a game with D'Antoni as coach to allowing just 88.8 points under Woodson, the second-fewest yielded in the league over the past 17 games. The combination of the Knicks' improved play and the Heat's recent struggles on the road against playoff-caliber teams was enough to leave Miami a bit on edge entering Sunday.

Factor in the prospect of these heated rivals possibly meeting in a seven-game series at the end of the month, and it's enough to make Sunday somewhat of a statement opportunity for both teams.

“It will be a tough, tough, tough game, but it's always tough trying to get back on track,” forward Chris Bosh said of the Heat, who are 1-8 in their past nine on the road against teams with winning records. “We have a chance to get a huge road win. I wouldn't say it's daunting. We know that they're good. We know what they're capable of. That makes the importance of Sunday's game -- it increases it because it's a potential playoff matchup. We don't want them to have any confidence on us.”

Despite the chance the teams could be staring at a playoff matchup, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said there's no reason to enter the Garden with a poker face and refrain from tipping a strategic hand.

“There's no secrets in this league,” Spoelstra said. “What can you hold back? The most important thing for us anyway is we're trying to get to an optimal level of play where we're playing at a high level. We're not there yet, particularly on the road. So we're not going to keep any cards to our vest. We can't afford to do that right now.”

The Heat have outscored the Knicks by 24 points in the two wins this season. But it's possible neither team will be at full strength Sunday. Dwyane Wade (knee/ankle), Mike Miller (ankle), Ronny Turiaf (hamstring) and Udonis Haslem (stomach virus) sat out Friday's win against Charlotte. Spoelstra said he was hopeful they all would play Sunday as Miami tries to shore up its playoff rotation.

Stoudemire, who has been recovering from a back injury, resumed workouts with the Knicks this weekend but is questionable for Sunday's game. Lin likely won't return until the playoffs.

Considering where these teams were two months ago -- and where they could be headed in two weeks -- the Heat and Knicks have reached a crossroads along their collision course. Miami is looking to regain its February form. New York has been working to distance itself from the team it was back then.

For James, keeping track of the ever-changing Knicks presented one challenge entering Sunday.

Finding an answer for his team's recent road woes could be an even bigger chore.

“Every team has that one point where they have that streak and everything is clicking,” James said. “We can go back over that film and watch what we were doing great. We were defending great. We were running out. We were getting fast-break points. We were very aggressive. We can get back to that. But at the same time, we want to continue to work forward ... and get ready for the postseason.”

NEW YORK -- Sunday afternoon is the last time the Heat and Knicks are scheduled to play each other this season. But when the teams line up at Madison Square Garden (1 p.m. ET, ABC), they’ll do so knowing this is a legitimate playoff preview.

There’s wiggle room in the standings with just less than two weeks left to sort it out, but right now the Heat and Knicks would be first-round playoff combatants. That would easily be the Eastern Conference’s most interesting series because of the star power, fan interest and upset potential that exists.

Here are five reasons fans should hope Sunday's game is just an appetizer:

1. The LeBron James-Carmelo Anthony power forward duel. It looks like Amare Stoudemire is on track to be back for the playoffs so Anthony might return to starting at his more natural small forward spot. But with all the success the Knicks have had playing smaller with Anthony at power forward, you can bet he will still get significant minutes there. So will James, who has been playing power forward throughout the season for the Heat.

The two always are an intense matchup, and seeing James and Anthony battle it out against each other at power forward would create an element we haven’t seen before. Likely it would mean more post play plus a serious test at the defensive end for both players.

2. Home-court dominators. One of the reasons this would have the potential to be a long series is both teams have been great on their home floor and not so good on the road. The Heat own the league’s best home record at 25-4, including a 2-0 mark against the Knicks. New York, though, has been the league’s best home-court team over the past month by winning its past nine at MSG.

The Heat have well-known issues on the road and are just 1-8 in their past nine road games against current playoff teams. The Knicks, meanwhile, have just 11 road wins, which is currently last among all teams in playoff position.

3. Coach pressure. Mike Woodson has transformed the Knicks since taking over from Mike D’Antoni, going 13-4 and improving the Knicks' defense vastly. But with numerous big names potentially interested in the position this summer, Woodson might be coaching for his job in a series such as this. If he can pull off an upset against a team such as Miami, he probably will win the job full time.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has one of the most pressure-filled jobs in the league. His decision to go from a “grind the game” approach last season to a “pace and space” attack with a gambling style on defense this season has yielded mixed results. He’s been constantly changing his lineups recently in an attempt to find a mixture that works for the postseason. If he can’t get the Heat out of their recent funk, he’s going to be under extreme scrutiny.

4. The Chandler effect. Dirk Nowitzki won the MVP and Jason Terry won fans’ hearts but Tyson Chandler had a huge role in leading the Mavericks over the Heat in last year’s Finals. His ability to protect the rim and change shots arrested the Heat’s penetrating offense and contributed to the struggles James had getting to the rim. In a defining moment in Game 4, he took a charge from James on a potential 3-point play that went a long way to deciding that series-altering game.

Now he’s in New York and having a fantastic defensive season again. With the Knicks excelling by playing at a slower pace and willing to win games in the half-court, James and Dwyane Wade will have to challenge him in the paint.

5. Novak vs. Heat’s 3-point defense. Garden darling Steve Novak is currently second in the league in 3-point shooting at just less than 46 percent. The Heat rank 28th in defending the 3-pointer, their greatest defensive weakness. Novak is known for getting hot and being forgotten about as defenses focus on Anthony and Stoudemire on the interior. Along with J.R. Smith, another player with a reputation for hitting 3-pointers in bunches, Novak and the Heat dealing with their 3-point issues could end up being a crucial X factor in a Heat-Knicks series.

When the Heat were dropping games early in the season, Erik Spoelstra would sit behind the podium in the interview room at AmericanAirlines Arena and explain that the Heat were enduring a process. In Spoelstra's estimation, his team was a living organism. All that ugliness we were witnessing on the floor -- the lack of execution, direction and performance? Those were all natural parts of the transformation a team undergoes as it learns what it is.

Spoelstra's theory seemed smart after the Heat started to pull it together. As it turned out, the Heat needed "20 games to jell," even though that seemed like coach-and athlete-speak at the time. There were still some rough edges. The Heat were having trouble beating elite teams and still had a lousy record in close games, but those shortcomings were also part of the process and would be addressed in due time.

Due time arrived last night with the Heat leading the Knicks 84-78 with about three minutes left in the game. A six-point lead with six or seven possessions remaining in regulation gives a team a healthy margin for error. Grind out a bucket or two and you're basically requiring the opponent to run the table if they want to win or extend the game.

That being the case, we can tell a lot about a team's poise and competence by how it executes these possessions.

How did the Heat choose to approach these opportunities? Did they resort to hero ball, something they've been prone to do at their worst moments? Did LeBron James and Dwyane Wade trust their teammates, something Spoelstra preaches as gospel? Did the Heat use their superior talent and instincts to make smart basketball plays? Was each possession approached with a purpose?

With that six-point cushion, the Heat didn't need to be perfect. In fact, they didn't even need to be average. Even after Carmelo Anthony trimmed that six-point lead to four, Miami could withstand being significantly worse than New York and probably still survive.

It's one thing to say that a team has trouble closing out games, but that doesn't offer a specific diagnosis as to why.

How did the Heat manage only two points over their final seven possessions on Sunday?

Possession No. 1 (Heat up four, 2:50)
The Heat's lineup for the stretch drive includes Wade, James, Mike Miller, Chris Bosh and Joel Anthony.

Credit the Heat for a defined plan on this possession: to go to their shuffle/UCLA cut, something they've been using successfully over the past month or so. James brings the ball up the left side. Miller sets a back screen for Wade at the left elbow. If executed to perfection, Wade's man, Bill Walker, will get hung up on that screen and Wade will fly to the hole where he'll either be completely alone or, if Billups (who is assigned to Miller) makes the switch, Wade will have deep, deep post position.

Miller's screen doesn't get any space for Wade, but it's not the end of the world. This is a resourceful set with plenty of options. Once Wade clears, Miller quickly offers James an angle screen on the left wing, which gets LeBron a mismatch when the Knicks switch.

Miller is a busy dude. Once LeBron draws Billups to the top of the floor, Miller sets a pindown for Wade, who curls counterclockwise along the left sideline.

This is good stuff because there are few things more dangerous in the NBA than Dwyane Wade on the move. For months we've begged the Heat to do more work off the ball, and that's precisely what's going on here.

One problem: As Wade swings around with Walker trailing well behind him, LeBron's bounce pass is snared by Billups and we go the other way.

You can't fault the scheme whatsoever. This is a beautifully drawn play and, if LeBron can execute the simplest pass to Wade on the move, almost certainly results in a layup or at the very least a couple of free throws if a help defender can wrap Wade up in time.

Possession No. 2 (Heat up four, 2:22)
Again, it's difficult to fault what the Heat have conceived here. They want a two-man game with Miller and Bosh on the right side. When Amare Stoudemire fronts Bosh in the mid-post, Bosh offers a step-up screen for Miller in order to get open. He's successful, as Miller passes the ball to Bosh at the right foul line extended area.


It's debatable whether Bosh has sufficient room to launch an open jumper from 18 feet, but it's safe to say Bosh has attempted that shot with less daylight.

It's no matter, though, because the Heat have spaced the floor beautifully. Wade has been parked in the left corner. Once the Heat set the play in motion on the right side, Shawne Williams and Walker (Wade's man) cheat over. The moment Wade is no longer the focus of Walker's attention, he makes a sharp cut along the baseline to the basket, where Bosh tries to hit him with a pass.

Not unlike the previous possession, the Heat get Wade on the move to the hole. You can't ask for much more, except to make a clean pass. The feed from Bosh isn't horrible, but it's clunky enough to allow the Knicks to recover. By the time Wade gathers the ball, he's surrounded by a scrum of blue jerseys. Wade has to take a dribble in traffic, move from beneath the backboard, where he doesn't have a good angle, and launch the shot off-balance.

If he looks behind him, Wade would find Miller with not a soul within 10 feet of him behind the arc and Bosh wide open at his favorite spot at 17 feet. But with the ball that close to the hole and his propensity for drawing contact, Wade stays with the play.

The shot is no good.

Possession No. 3 (Heat up two, 1:41)
After Billups makes a runner, James -- unquestionably the Heat's primary point guard during this stretch drive -- brings the ball up.

Of the first three sets, this is far and away the least coherent, and it breaks down fairly quickly. After getting freed up from a down screen by Anthony, Wade received the ball from James at the top of the floor and gets a double stack high from Anthony and Chris Bosh. This is a play the Heat have run routinely and one that's also popular in Boston. Wade goes to the left of the screen, while Anthony rolls to the hoop.

Not that hitting Anthony with a pass inside is a very inspired idea, but Wade's feed is deflected slightly. Anthony is able to grab the ball but at this point he's surrounded by Knicks. Anthony manages to get the ball back to Wade along a congested baseline.

With the play disintegrating into chaos, Bosh does something smart: He streaks down a wide-open lane where Wade hits him on the move. But as he elevates for a close-range shot, Bosh has the ball slip out of his hands. The Heat get lucky, though, as the rock lands in Wade's hand on the right side at about 12 feet. With the shot clock clicking down, Wade launches a fadeaway that's short.

Sunday's night game was uncharacteristically sloppy, with plenty of poor passes and slippery execution. Place this possession into evidence.

Possession No. 4 (Heat down one, 1:01)
This possession follows Billups' enormous step-back 3-pointer.

Much of what Miami does offensively originates with the ball going into Bosh at the elbow. As is often the case, the nominal point guard (on this possession that's Wade) lobs an entry pass into Bosh, then moves to the corner to set a screen for his teammate on the wing. That's what Wade does, but Bosh senses a one-on-one advantage against Stoudemire at the elbow.

We often criticize Bosh for not being more willing to put the ball on the floor and attack, yet that's what he does here. As he drives middle, Williams moves off Anthony (and why not?) to help, which prompts Bosh to kick the ball out to the perimeter. Unfortunately, Bosh performs one of the cardinal sins of basketball and elevates before he knows where he's going with the pass. Bosh's intended receiver is Miller ... but the actual one is Billups.

Possession No. 5 (Heat down three, 0:43.2)
When the Heat get jittery, they often go back to the most rudimentary solution: put the ball in the hands of LeBron James.

James wants a high screen and, more importantly, a mismatch against a Knicks' big man. That's what he gets when Bosh screens Anthony at the floor. James promptly puts his head down and drives to the rack, beating Stoudemire and drawing the foul on the attack.

There's something almost poetic -- and somewhat ironic -- about the Heat's only two points in the final three minutes of the game coming from a set with the utmost simplicity. The Heat probably can't win a seven-game series running 3-4 and 3-5 pick-and-rolls for James more than a couple dozen times per game, but there are few things more reliable in basketball than James devouring a backpedaling big man on a dribble-drive.

Possession No. 6 (Heat down one, 0:12.7)
Eddie House is now in the game for Joel Anthony. Miller inbounds the ball to James who this time doesn't get a screen. The Heat spread the floor wide for James for a one-on-one drive against Melo in isolation. James attacks left and Carmelo does a solid job walling off the paint. James never gets the kind of space he wants, but still manages to get off a shot at close range.

But that's when Stoudemire darts over from the right side to challenge James at the rim. Stoudemire swats the ball away into the hands of Williams.

Whoever had the tandem of Anthony and Stoudemire stopping James on a decisive drive to the basket can claim clairvoyance. The defensive stand by the Knicks was as incredible as it was improbable.

Possession No. 7 (Heat down three, 0:06.7)
The Heat confronted this same scenario exactly two weeks earlier in Boston.This time, Miller inbounds from the right sideline into the half court.

Rather than rely on one of his 3-point shooters (and the Heat's best one, James Jones, is sitting on the bench), Spoelstra opts for the ball to be inbounded to James. LeBron gets open up top, courtesy of a sturdy pindown from Bosh at the top of the arc. Bosh pastes Carmelo Anthony as James darts to the top of the floor to receive the inbounds pass.

James has a reasonably clean look at about the 5.7-second mark, but as Carmelo eventually frees himself from Bosh to close out, James buys a little more time and space with a quick ball fake as Anthony approaches. LeBron then takes a single dribble to his left.

With 4.7 seconds remaining, James has another look, but he also has Wade open to his left. Wade has gotten himself free, like James, thanks to a down screen from Bosh.

Wade is a less proficient 3-point shooter (33.8 percent for James, 31.3 percent for Wade), but a more open one at this instant.

James takes the shot, and it misses. Game over.

Down three, does Spoelstra give his team a better shot at the win if he designs a play for Jones (again, not in the game), Miller or House? Does he give the ball to his superstar in this situation, irrespective of probabilities? How much of this decision is informed by Miller's inability to drain the shot in Boston?

After the game, Wade was asked by Brian Windhorst why the Heat have had trouble executing in late-game situations. Wade challenged the premise:

"I would disagree with you," Wade said. "I think we got good offensive execution, but all our shots haven't gone down all the time. We got what we wanted at the end of the game, with LeBron driving to the basket, and they made a very athletic play. I think we've executed pretty well. We get the shots that we want, that our coach draws up for us, that we as players want. A lot of times they just don't go in. But we don't win 43 games without being able to execute."

It's not so much the 43 wins as it is the 17 losses, including several games in recent weeks against the kind of Eastern Conference competition the Heat will encounter this spring. These seven possessions suggest that the Heat have the talent and schemes to generate points in pivotal situations, whether they're running a UCLA cut, crafty off-ball action or just relying on LeBron James to be LeBron James.

But even the best talent and most creative sets require sharp passes and smart decision-making and getting the ball to the right guys at the right spots at the right moments.

Can the Heat, with a straight face, say they accomplished what they wanted to last night?

MIAMI -- This is what a real point guard sounds like.

“It's pride,” Chauncey Billups, the newly acquired New York Knick and long-time clutch performer, said after his work was done on Sunday night. “That's really what a team is all about. Different jersey. Different everything. But the pride and the passion stay the same.”

This is what a true point guard does down the stretch. When the New York Knicks needed direction stating their case to referees, nailing clutch shots and making a game-clinching defensive stand, Billups was the cop in the middle of the busy intersection after the traffic light went haywire.

This is how a legitimate leader carries himself at the most important position on the court. Billups was the calm amid the chaos. He was the confident catalyst who engineered the comeback that saw the Knicks overcome 40 minutes of terrible basketball with a total of eight minutes of chemistry and execution to slip past the Miami Heat 91-86 on Sunday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.

And this, essentially, is the difference a quality point guard would make for the Heat.

Don't get this twisted. This is no plea to find a proven playmaker who could help this team address the harsh reality that's been staring Miami in the face all season. When you're the Heat and have LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on your roster, you're in no position to complain about what you don't have. Any sliver of sympathy Miami might have garnered for the holes that exist elsewhere on the roster was lost the moment the new arrivals celebrated their free-agency hookup last July the way NBA champions usually toast in June.

You can put together stars who load up on stats, blow out bad teams, beat up on mediocre ones and occasionally flirt with a breakthrough moment or two during the course of a long regular season. But when it's time to take that next step from contender to champion, from talking about how it'll all come together eventually to ultimately showing proof of that progress, the Heat are missing a key ingredient.

A point guard -- especially one like Billups.

The Heat have all the talent in the world in their starting lineup at three of the five positions on the floor. But the team that won Sunday's much-hyped showdown that was supposed to be all about the star power of Lebron, Dwyane, Carmelo and Amare was won by the team that had a championship point guard.

The Knicks had Billups, who dropped in a 27-foot dagger for the go-ahead score in the final minute of the game. The Heat had Mario Chalmers, who despite some inspired play recently, blew a point-blank, breakaway layup earlier in the second half.

The Knicks had a veteran who didn't hesitate to take control of his team on both ends of the court and steer the stars without a second thought. The Heat, yet again, closed the game without a point guard on the court, and trusted that LeBron and D-Wade could win it with hero-ball.

The result was another explanation from Heat coach Erik Spoelstra about the process his team is going through in games like these, and the consistent progress it has yet to make. This is the second time in three games the Heat built a double-digit lead against a playoff-caliber opponent. Last week it was the Chicago Bulls. Sunday night, it was the Knicks.

What do the Heat have to show for it? L.L. -- as in Cool J. And clutch play at the point guard position was the difference in both outcomes. Last week, it was Derrick Rose with the game-winning dime to Luol Deng. This week, it was Billups with the go-ahead jumper and the game-sealing steal.

Billups had 16 points, four rebounds, two assists, three steals and five turnovers -- not a monster game by any stretch. But he was mistake-free in the clutch, with seven points and two steals in the fourth quarter.

“I always feel like the fourth quarter is a new game,” he said.

New game from Billups, same old song from Spoelstra.

“We will have our breakthrough,” Spoesltra said. “As painful as it is right now, there will be a time when we break through, execute and win a game like this against a quality opponent going down the stretch. What you hope is that the pain of a game like this resonates enough to make a change.”

But the results won't change until the personnel does. As things now stand, the Heat are playing at a disadvantage -- without a legitimate point guard. I've suggested a solution in the past. The best way for the Heat to address this problem is to convince Wade to take over the position full-time and commit to it on both ends of the court.

Miami's best perimeter lineup is Wade, LeBron and Mike Miller, anyway. But the problem is there's too much freelancing in the closing stretches of tight games. When other teams go to their point guard, the Heat goes to, well, roles that never seem quite defined.

When the Knicks were headed in that direction Sunday, when Stoudemire and Carmelo were on the verge of trying to upstage one another as the savior, Billups got things straight and restored order.

“He made big plays down the stretch, and I think he's a key part to their success,” said Bosh, who almost sounded envious as he talked about Billups' impact on the game. “Chauncey is big for them because he gives them experience at the point guard position. That's the most important position on the court. He's going to run the show and spread the court at the same time. I'm sure they're banking a lot of their success on him.”

Meanwhile, the Heat are banking on a breakthrough at some point at the point without really playing with a point in the most pivotal points of games.

Perhaps this problem will be addressed in the next couple of days, when the Heat could have options among players who are bought out by their current teams. Players who reach contract buyouts and are released by Tuesday are playoff eligible when they sign with another team.

Hope that T.J. Ford gets his wish and is released by the Indiana Pacers this week. Keep your fingers crossed that Mike Bibby would be foolishly generous enough to give back a nice chunk of his salary this season and next to be set free by the Washington Wizards.

When you've got Wade, James and Bosh, you can't have it all. But it's really a shame that you still don't have enough -- especially at a spot where seemingly every other contender in the East has an All-Star at the position.

Sunday offered yet another painful reminder.

“We know about Melo,” James said. “We know about Amare. But people always seem to forget about Chauncey. We never do. He continues to make big shot after big shot. That's why it's his nickname.”

The Heat can't seem to catch a break at point guard.

Meanwhile, the Knicks catch a keeper as a so-called throw-in on that Carmelo Anthony trade.

“That's why,” Spoelstra said, “it's an absolute mockery to say that he was a throw-in on that deal.”

Well said.

Especially for a team that just hasn't gotten the point all season.

Force the Knicks to defend
When you have offensive weapons as dangerous as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, it's tempting to take a sledgehammer rather than a scalpel to each possession. The Knicks play a high-octane game, preferring a track meet to a half-court battle. If the Heat aren't careful, they can be easily lured into pull-up jumpers in transition and quick one-on-one strikes. While that might be a sensible strategy against the Bulls, as we saw in the first half on Thursday night, the Knicks invite that sort of chaos and thrive off it. But force the Knicks into a methodical, grind-it-out game and you can have success. As Jeff Fogle of Hoopdata pointed out, since the Carmelo Anthony trade, the Knicks have had the fortune of facing the NBA's worst two offenses -- Milwaukee and Cleveland -- and failed miserably in defending either of them. They fouled incessantly, gave up a ton of second-chance opportunities, and generally failed to contest shots both inside and out. When the Heat put their minds to it, move the ball and they can pick teams apart. The Knicks simply don't have the instincts on the defensive side of the ball to make prompt, smart decisions. Let them off the hook and they don't have to.

Get to the line
Want to know the single most foolproof way of preventing a team like the Knicks from getting easy buckets in transition? Make them inbound the ball from the far baseline after a successful free throw. The free points generated at the charity stripe not only pad the score, but they allow a team to get its defense set, which, against an efficient offensive team like New York that can run you into submission, is no small task. The Knicks are also very thin behind their starters after emptying the bench in the Anthony/Billups acquisition, and can ill-afford any foul trouble to their principals. Meanwhile, the Heat are the third-best foul-drawing team in the league. James worked his way to the line for 19 attempts on Friday night against Washington, while Wade racked up 12 chances at the stripe on Thursday night in Chicago. Along with their other sins against Cleveland and Milwaukee, the Knicks allowed 76 free throws over those two games against a couple of pretty desperate offenses. If the Heat attack the rim early and often, they could win this game without having a banner night from the perimeter.

LeBron vs. Carmelo
This is the mano-a-mano almost everyone will be watching, even with Anthony nursing a sore right elbow. James has had success over the years as Anthony's primary defender. On possessions when the two superstars have been matched up one-on-one since 2004-05, Anthony has shot 15-for-40 (37.5 percent) and generated only 0.79 points per play. James has had a bit more success, shooting 13-for-28 (46.4 percent) and scoring 0.94 points per play. We've seen James' best defensive performances of the season when he's matched up against premiere counterparts at the small forward spot, such as the Jan. 30 win over Oklahoma City, when James did solid work on Kevin Durant. Anthony and Durant are different talents -- Melo is far more physical creating space for himself -- but James certainly knows that a national audience will be focused in on those one-on-one battles out on the wing.

Welcome back, Joel?
One of the more curious subplots of the previous three meetings between the Heat and Knicks has been Joel Anthony. Teams are always looking for "star-stoppers" when they confront a dynamic offensive player and Anthony has had relative success matching up against Stoudemire. In three games, Stoudemire has shot 13-of-38 from the field (34.2 percent) with three fouls drawn with Anthony as his primary defender. Anthony has played more sparingly as of late, giving up many of his minutes to the bulkier Erick Dampier. But against a more up-tempo New York squad that relies on pick-and-rolls to get Stoudemire many of his looks, expect Anthony to log significant time. Anthony demonstrates quick anticipation against Stoudemire, both in pick-and-roll situations and in isolation. Anthony uses his quick feet to cut off Stoudemire's right-handed drive and doesn't yield Stoudemire a whole lot of space to launch from 18 feet.

Control the glass
In their effort to leak out in transition at every opportunity and without a willful rebounder, the Knicks leave themselves vulnerable on the defensive glass. They rank 25th in the league in the percentage of rebounds secured on the their opponents' backboard, and got ravaged on Friday night in Cleveland (the NBA's 29th-ranked rebounding squad). Theoretically, Anthony brings a little help on the wings, where Landry Fields is already a pretty capable rebounder, but if the Heat set their minds to it, they should have plenty of chances to get multiple looks at the basket. But crashing the offensive boards comes with a calculated risk. If the Heat's speedy wings are overly aggressive, then the Knicks will get opportunities in the open court. The key for the Heat is to be smart and selective. Let guys like Anthony squirt into the paint and establish position, then kick the ball back up top for a reset.

MIAMI -- When Amare Stoudemire looked at his situation at the start of the season, he felt like he’d taken a risk by signing with the New York Knicks.

The incumbent conference champion Boston Celtics had re-signed several stars, while the Miami Heat, and to a lesser extent the Chicago Bulls, had added talent in a developing arms race in the East. That was before the Orlando Magic made a series of dramatic trades that added talent to their roster.

“It was definitely a huge risk on my part to come to New York because there was no one here and, at the time, no one wanted to come,” Stoudemire said. “Not one person. The team wasn’t known to be successful. So it was a huge, huge risk for my career.”

Now, things have changed again and Stoudemire finds himself in the middle of the talent build-up as Carmelo Anthony has joined him in New York.

With the trades over and all the contracts now signed -- the Knicks and Heat have combined to commit nearly $500 million in new deals to Stoudemire, Anthony, LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade since July -- the path has been cleared for a new rivalry between new East heavyweights to begin.

These stars, for the foreseeable future at least, are now locked in with their new teams. And every time Miami and New York play, as they will Sunday night at 8 p.m. on ESPN, it will be considered an event.

“It is going to be battles for many years with Amare and Melo,” Wade said. “They’re guys around the same age as we are. We’re not going anywhere, they’re not going anywhere. It is going to be some battles for a while. As competitors, I’m sure they look forward to it and we look forward to it with open arms. We look forward to this game and many more.”

The Heat come into the game in a virtual tie with the Celtics for the top seed in the East, and the Knicks are in sixth position. With the standings tight and still more than a quarter of the season to go, it is possible they could be playoff opponents.

“We felt the intensity [against Miami] before we brought in Carmelo,” Stoudemire said. “Now it is more magnified with Carmelo and Chauncey [Billups] joining us.”

It is not until there is a playoff series, most players say, does a true rivalry materialize between teams. Even if fans from both sides will remember the Heat-Knicks battles from the '90s, the current combatants aren’t ready to go that far. But that doesn’t mean they don’t expect extra energy when they play.

“Regardless if it my third game or not, it should be a statement for us to want to beat this team,” Anthony said. “I think the East has become more powerful now and you’re going to see a lot more competitive games in the East.”

So far this season, the Heat have beaten the Knicks in two of the three meetings. But there has been an extra edge to the games, especially last month in New York when the Knicks prevailed in a come-from-behind victory.

“Rivalries don’t start until you have a playoff series or two,” James said. “But we’ll welcome it back. We’ll make it fun like it has been in the past.”

MIAMI -- With friend Carmelo Anthony joining him in the Eastern Conference, LeBron James thinks the NBA is benefiting.

“I think it is great for the NBA, the Knicks are back,” James said of Anthony being traded to New York. “The other teams are trying to compete [with the Heat] and I think that is great.”

James, who will face Anthony and the Knicks Sunday night on ESPN, was asked about Chris Paul’s toast at Anthony’s wedding last summer. In the speech, Paul suggested he and Anthony would hope to join Amare Stoudemire on the Knicks. Reportedly, James advised Anthony that night to try to get to New York, as well.

“They could add Chris and then it would be all the way true,” James said. “So guess it’s not true yet.”

MIAMI – Now 56 games into their season, the Heat have a sterling record but a bit of an unsteady reputation.

They came out of the All-Star Break with the third-best record in the league, right on the heels of the Celtics for the top mark in the Eastern Conference. But they are 0-6 against the teams with the five best records in the league, and 4-8 against the top five teams in each conference.

According to the raw numbers, the Heat have gotten to 41-15 by playing the second-easiest schedule -- though that is somewhat circumstantial because Miami has played 31 road games, the most of any team. The Heat have also played the third-most total games, meaning they’ve had less time off and practice time than most teams, all of which makes their schedule tougher than it looks.

But all of that is about to get settled. The Heat are about to enter the most favorable yet demanding part of their schedule.

Starting Tuesday night against the Kings, the Heat will play 10 of their next 12 games in Miami. They will play 12 of their next 14 against teams currently in playoff position in both conferences.

This week it’s games against the Bulls and Knicks, and next week it is an Orlando-San Antonio back-to-back. In two weeks the Heat start a homestand that includes the Lakers, Bulls, Spurs, Trail Blazers and Thunder.

In short, the Heat are headed for a graduate-level course load in what could become an intense battle for the top seed and a referendum on their championship hopes.

“We think we’re the most improved team since the end of November,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And people are saying that we haven’t played up to par against the best in the league.”

That is what people are saying, especially after the Heat dropped to 0-3 against the Celtics last week. It is also why there’s going to be some pressure on Thursday’s game in Chicago, a team the Heat have not yet beaten, when Joakim Noah is expected back from injury.

“We look forward to the big games and we’ll make sure our focus is there,” Dwyane Wade said. “It is a good thing. We’re going to focus going into the playoffs.”

Though Udonis Haslem is still on the sideline with a foot injury and Mike Miller is recovering from a serious of head injuries, the Heat are generally as healthy as they have been all season. That health enabled them to go into the All-Star break winners of 10 of their last 11 games. They will also get numerous off days and practice sessions during this challenging period.

They have been together since September and worked out many of their major issues. Now is the time for fairly judge them and how good they truly are.

“We’ll find out in the next few weeks,” Spoelstra said. “I think we’re all looking forward to it.”

NEW YORK -- Dwyane Wade was absolutely right late Thursday night.

It was one of those things you could nitpick, dissect, break down and wonder about ad nauseum. This particular decision might not have changed the outcome of the Miami Heat's 93-88 loss to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

But it certainly set the wheels in motion.

And that's what makes it worth further examination. It deserves to be scrutinized, because it proved to be one of the pivotal moments of the game, when the one thing the Heat had working for them amid struggles everywhere else -- Wade's nearly flawless ability to score -- was removed from the equation near the end of the third quarter, never to be seen again.

So, in essence, it might have been the substitution that sank the Heat. Wade had made 13 consecutive shots and was 14 of 15 from the field when he went to the bench with three minutes left in the third quarter as part of coach Erik Spoesltra's normal rotation.

The term “hot” would be an understatement to describe Wade's offensive temperature at the time. The migraine didn't appear to bother him. Those specially-tinted goggles he wore seemed to give him X-ray vision. He was locked in, having already dropped 33 points on the Knicks. Alicia Keys, Spike Lee, Kanye West, Howard Stern, Tracy Morgan and Magic Johnson were all courtside and in store for another dramatic performance in the Mecca.

“We all know about this league,” LeBron James said of Wade. “If a guy's got a hot streak, you got to keep giving it to him. It's not rocket science. When a guy's got it going, you just keep on feeding him. And D-Wade had it going.”

And Wade carried it with him, right to the bench with 2:52 left in the third quarter and the Heat leading by seven. To be specific, the substitution was Mike Miller in, Dwyane Wade out. The Heat never saw that version of Wade the rest of the night, a night that went all downhill from there for Miami.

Wade finished with 34 points, 16 rebounds and five assists. He also had six turnovers and missed eight of his 14 free-throw attempts. But for three quarters, the good outweighed the bad for Wade. He was on fire.

But when he re-entered the game to start the fourth quarter, Wade was as frigid as the weather outside Madison Square Garden. He would not make another shot. Wade was 0-of-7 from the field, with two fouls and a turnover the rest of the way. The Knicks outscored the Heat 29-15 in the fourth quarter after Wade couldn't rekindle the magic.

Spoelstra is a stickler for details and has settled into a regimented substitution pattern, specifically when it comes to handling Wade and James. In hindsight, this was one instance when Spoelstra should have ridden the hot hand as long as Wade had steam coming out of those funky goggles.

To Wade's credit, he didn't publicly disagree with Spoelstra's move to pull him in the midst of one of the best grooves he's been in all season. But Wade did admit that it disrupted his game.

“A little bit, yeah,” Wade said diplomatically. “But it's not the reason we lost the game. Of course, it broke my rhythm a little bit, but it's part of it. I have to take breaks. I need to, especially going down the stretch.”

The truth is Wade needed a rest at that point about as much as he needed pointers on how to put the ball in the basket. He had it rolling. He was the only thing the Heat had going for them on a night when James missed 17 of his 24 shots. A night when Chris Bosh was left in Miami with a sprained ankle. A night when Pat Riley scored as many points as Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Mike Miller, Eddie House, Carlos Arroyo, Erick Dampier and Juwan Howard contributed in a combined 90 minutes of court time.

Yes, Wade did the respectful thing and went to the bench on schedule, the way he normally does during that stage of the game. But he should have just as respectfully refused. Or maybe Spoelstra should have embraced the roll he was on, and broke from his resting routine.

“I could have probably told Coach I wanted to stay,” Wade said. “I just stayed with what we normally do. That's one of those things right there you can nitpick at. I could have told him. He could have said … But I sat down. I took my rest. Because I knew I was coming back in the fourth quarter to go for that push.”

That push never arrived. Actually it did. The Knicks made it. And Wade wouldn't make anything else. Dunks, nifty moves, pull-up jumpers, hard drives and twisting layups defined his game through the first three quarters against the Knicks. In the fourth, there were missed free throws, defensive lapses and errant shots from the field.

I nearly caught a migraine watching it. Wade went from magical to less than mortal.

And on a night when the Knicks weren't themselves either, and played one of their best stretches of defense this season, coach Mike D'Antoni couldn't even take credit for what happened to Wade.

“It was nothing that we did,” D'Antoni said. “He finally missed a few shots. He's human. We just kept trying to tighten it up and help as much as we could.”

Sure, Knicks guard Landry Fields did a decent job of staying in front of Wade and being in just the right position to get schooled. But the only thing that stopped Wade on Thursday was the Heat's substitution pattern.

“I was looking for an opportunity to get him out,” Spoelstra said of weighing the pros and cons of pulling Wade before he ultimately decided to maintain his routine. “When I got him out in the third, he was really in a great rhythm right there, so it was a tough call. I put him in there in the fourth. I don't think fatigue was a factor.”

Wade didn't think so, either.

“Before that, I was just real aggressive, playing a different role,” Wade said of his approach before he was pulled. “When I came back in, I trusted my teammates. I got off the ball. I gave guys shots. They just didn't go down. I was playing point guard at that time, so I was facilitating. They just didn't go in. That's all it was.”

And it was enough to alter the course of the game. The Heat didn't lose their lead during the two minutes, 52 seconds Wade sat on the bench at the end of the third. In fact, they extended a seven-point lead to 73-64 entering the fourth quarter.

But Wade's momentum was gone.

There's a widely known saying in the NBA that Dean Smith, the former University of North Carolina coach, was the only person who ever held Michael Jordan under 20 points a game.

To a lesser degree, that was the case Thursday night with Wade.

The Knicks certainly weren't the ones who took Wade out of his game.

No, the only thing that stopped him was his coach's stubborn devotion to order.

NEW YORK –- LeBron James downplayed, but didn’t deny his comments to Carmelo Anthony about joining the Knicks last July.

In an interview with Sports Illustrated earlier this month, Anthony said that James advised him to join the Knicks during a conversation at Anthony’s wedding in New York over the summer.

"If you want any chance against us in Miami, you'd better team up with [Amare] Stoud[emire] in New York," Anthony said James told him.

Asked about it before James and the Heat took on the Knicks Thursday, James attempted to defuse the issue.

“He blamed me?” James said with a smile “I think [that] particular day was all about Carmelo and his wife … We said what we said but, at the end of the day, we were excited to be there for his wedding.”

Reportedly at Anthony’s wedding reception was one of James’ closest friends, Hornets guard Chris Paul, who reportedly toasted to Anthony and himself joining Stoudemire in New York. Anthony can be a free agent this summer, Paul in 2012.

NEW YORK -- There were thousands of fans at Madison Square Garden on Friday night still frustrated that LeBron James was there wearing a black road uniform and not a white Knicks jersey.

Later in the night, when the Heat’s 11th consecutive win was sealed, the once-frenzied Garden crowd was silent. The reason James signed with the Heat was as clear as black and white.

James (as he has said repeatedly and again Friday) picked Miami over his other suitors because of the chance to play with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. The wisdom of that choice will be determined over the next six years. But James was very comfortable with the short-term returns on his first trip to Manhattan since jilting the Knicks.

The Heat’s big three combined for 84 points in the 113-91 victory, with James producing another fantastic New York performance. Wade and Bosh scoffed at boos and jeers to join him in the group’s best collective effort of the season.

“The message I got from Miami was everything I needed to hear,” James said when asked about his choice of the Heat over the Knicks. “The system, the coaching, the organization. And D-Wade and CB being good friends of mine, I thought it was best suited for me.”

This was the type of game James had in mind. He recorded his 30th regular-season triple-double and his first at the Garden (he had one but lost it when the NBA took away a rebound after a game in February 2009). He finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

James made his first three shots -- all contested jumpers -- which Knicks fans have grown accustomed to seeing. In his previous four visits to the building, James had averaged 40.3 points, with two 50-point games fueled largely by great outside shooting. On Friday, he shot 14-of-23 from the field and made just one free throw, a rarity for him in high-scoring games but an example of how the atmosphere charged him.

“It is not a spotlight I can’t handle,” James had said before the game when questioned as to whether he chose Miami to avoid the pressure of playing in New York. “It is not a situation I can’t handle.”

Wade handled it as well. He had a complete effort with 26 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals. Bosh had 26 points and seven rebounds, and was part of an effort that broke Amare Stoudemire’s streak of nine consecutive 30-point games.

Stoudemire still had 24 points but needed 28 shots to get there, a ratio the Heat gladly accepted.

When Bosh went to the foul line several times, he was hit with arena-wide “overrated” chants. After he’d played Stoudemire to a virtual draw, Bosh just laughed about it.

“We’re all going to have our turn,” Bosh said. “Today was the first time I could really tell the difference [in the jeering]. We thrive in this kind of environment.”

Usually those sort of comments are more canned than true -- especially for Bosh, who does not have a history of coming up big under pressure. But that statement can’t be disputed for now, because the Heat have indeed backed it up recently.

In a vicious environment in Cleveland earlier this month, the Heat delivered their best game of the season to that point. In Utah, which can be a high-altitude pressure cooker, they turned in a dominating effort. Then Friday, when the Garden was at playoff-style noise levels in the first half, the Heat did it again.

In all three games, it was James, Wade and Bosh combining to play well, a formula that overwhelmed the home team.

In essence, that is why they joined forces. It sure hasn’t been popular, but for the past three-plus weeks, the combination has been quite effective and there aren’t signs of any immediate slowing.

After a rough first 17 games during which their play was under scrutiny, the Heat now seem to be enjoying answering the public relations fallout as they cross the country and disappoint fans who came to boo them.

“These guys, they’re not afraid of the lights,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We’ve experienced a lot of this already. Everybody booing us, having creative signs ... I think they all like that, being the designated villain for the night.”

Containing the Knicks' pick-and-roll game
Pop Quiz: Name the only team in the league operating a more efficient pick-and-roll attack than the Miami Heat?

It took some time for Raymond Felton to find his footing as the conductor of the Knicks' offense, but the numbers don't lie -- the Knicks have been devastating. And why not? They have all the essential ingredients you could want for an effective pick-and-roll game. Amare Stoudemire continues to be the most lethal roll man in the league, virtually unstoppable on drags, popping out to 17 feet, or even coming off the screen and setting a pin-down for one of the Knicks' perimeter threats. As if defending Stoudemire in a screen-roll isn't imposing enough, the Knicks spread the floor with capable shooters such as Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler, whom Felton can hit with a kickout when the defense invariably turns its attention to Stoudemire. Run under the high screen and Felton is no slouch as a long-range sniper at 37 percent from beyond the arc. Like every Knicks' opponent, the Heat will have a series of tough choices to make. Do they want Stoudemire's defender to pressure Felton off the pick-and-roll? If so, then the Heat's other big man better be ready to stand in front of the freight train as Stoudemire dives to the hoop. James might be one of the best help defenders in the NBA in these situations, but if he's going to leave Gallinari all alone on the arc, somebody in a Heat jersey better be prepared to rotate over, or else Felton makes an easy skip pass for an uncontested 3. Cheat off Chandler and he can make you pay as both a shooter or a slasher (he's finishing at the rim at a 81.6 percent clip). Fortunately for the Heat, they have both speed and intuition -- and they'll need a healthy dose of both on Friday night to contain the Knicks.

For Heat, don't make it a jump-shooting contest


Who guards LeBron?
The Heat's Big 3 pose match-up problems for most opponents, but the Knicks in particular have some tough decisions in front of them. Last season, the Knicks threw several different looks at LeBron James. They tried Larry Hughes, they sent Jared Jeffries, and when James dropped 47 points against the Knicks in Cleveland, it was Wilson Chandler who got torched by James. But at 6-8, Chandler probably won't get the assignment now that he has started at the four over the past nine games with Stoudemire sliding to the 5 and Gallinari picking up the opposing small forwards. Is Gallinari up to the task? He certainly has the height to match up with James, but his length and slow footwork should have James looking to drive every time -- precisely what the Knicks don't want on Friday night. Gallinari's best bet is to give James some space and lure the long mid-range jumper. If he plays too close, look for James to consistently tie up the Italian's feet off the dribble as opposed to shooting over him.

Pressure Knicks' defense with early post-ups
All season long, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra has preached the virtues of the early post-up for his superstars, and Madison Square Garden offers the perfect laboratory for that practice. The Knicks' miss 15 3-pointers and turn the ball over 15 times per game. That should give the Heat ample opportunity to push the ball in transition. But even when long misses or easy buckets in the open floor don't present themselves, the Heat should take advantage of secondary break opportunities by having James and Wade (and Bosh) set up on the block for quick feeds. Only Denver has given up more field goals on post-up plays than the Knicks this season. Knicks' opponents often find favorable mismatches when they get the Knicks backpedaling. These early post-ups are easy points for the taking and also provide the Heat with a convenient antidote against lazy pull-up jumpers, something they want to avoid against the Knicks.

Amare vs. Z: Something's got to give
Tonight's match-up will showcase a battle of lineup game theory between head coaches D'Antoni and Spoelstra. Does Spoelstra adjust to the speed of D'Antoni's small lineup or will D'Antoni be forced to clog up the lane with a big body to stop Wade and James' basket attack? Who will break first? If Udonis Haslem were healthy, we may have seen the Heat push Bosh at the 5 to counter the Knicks athleticism up front. But as is, Stoudemire's explosive quickness in the post should test Spoelstra's insistence in keeping starter Zydrunas Ilgauskas on the floor to spread the floor and pair up James with a pick-and-pop option. At this stage, Big Z's feet move at a glacial pace and his only answer for Stoudemire will be to smother him with his long arms. Unfortunately, the Lithuanian's fading dexterity doesn't allow him to alter shots like he used to and he's been hampered by foul trouble recently. We'll probably see less of the lumbering Ilgauskas and Erick Dampier against Stoudemire, and more playing time for Joel Anthony, who blocked a season-high five shots against the Cavaliers on Wednesday. It's possible we may not see someone over 6-foot-10 on the floor for the majority of this game.