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After extending the series with Sunday's win, the New York Knicks lost Wednesday to the Miami Heat, losing the series in five games and making it 12 straight seasons since last winning a playoff series.

The winless stretch is the second-longest in Knicks franchise history, succeeded only by a 15-season span from 1954-68.

Sunday's win only seemed to temporarily stave off the inevitable. It was a series almost entirely dominated by the Heat.

In their four losses, the Knicks lost each by double digits and were outscored by a combined 70 points. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the negative 14-point average scoring margin is New York's second worst in a best-of-7 playoff series in postseason history.

The Knicks struggled to move the ball in Game 5, recording just 13 assists on 36 made field goals (36.1 percent), their worst team assist percentage this season.

They struggled to get easy baskets all series, with three of the games ranking among their worst assist percentage games of the season.

Additionally, the Carmelo Anthony/Amare Stoudemire project continues to produce mixed results.

In the past 2 seasons, including the playoffs, the Knicks have gone just 31-40 with both Anthony and Stoudemire in the lineup, including 1-7 in the postseason. When it's just been Stoudemire, the Knicks are a .500 team; they're 13-7 in games where just Anthony has been in the lineup.

Helping expedite the Knicks' playoff exit was LeBron James, who led the Heat with 29 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in Game 5. James improved to 7-0 all-time in first-round playoff series.

James inched his scoring average in potential series clinchers up to 28.3, the fifth-best mark in NBA history (minimum 10 games).

Awaiting the Heat are the Indiana Pacers, against whom the Heat had success, taking three of four regular-season meetings. Indiana struggled offensively in those games, averaging 92.3 points in the four games, shooting 40.4 percent from the field.

The Heat and Pacers have met just one other time in the playoffs: the 2004 Eastern Conference Semifinals, which the Pacers won in six games.

Jeremy Lin is going to have surgery on his left knee to repair a small tear in his meniscus and will miss six weeks, putting him on the shelf until at least the end of the regular season.

How will Lin's injury impact the New York Knicks?

The Knicks' season turned around once Lin started logging big minutes, beginning with his breakout game February 4 versus the Nets. The Knicks were just 8-15 prior to that contest, but since then have increased their offensive efficiency by nearly five points per 100 possessions, winning 18 of 29 games.

The Knicks were outscored by 16 points in their first 23 games as they won just eight times. In the last 29 games, starting with the February 4th game, the Knicks have outscored their opponents by 144 points, with Lin on court for most of the damage.

Lin had been one of the most important players for the Knicks during this surge. Since February 4, Lin has the second-best plus-minus on the team behind Tyson Chandler.

Lin also proved to be one of the most productive closers in the league. Among players with a minimum of 200 fourth quarter minutes played, only Chris Paul had a better PER than Lin.

However, the return of Carmelo Anthony to the lineup on February 20 hurt Lin’s production. His scoring average dropped by 10 points per game, and his shooting accuracy fell from 51 percent to 40 percent since Anthony came back.

Anthony may be the one Knick teammate who could benefit from Lin’s absence.

Anthony attempted nearly three more field goals and three more free throws per 36 minutes with Lin off the court, which translated to an additional five points per 36 minutes when not paired with Lin this season.

Statistical support for this story from NBA.com

The New York Knicks just want to be like Mike – Woodson that is. The Knicks improved to 5-0 under new head coach Mike Woodson, though Wednesday’s 82-79 win over the Philadelphia 76ers was quite unlike their previous four victories with Woodson at the helm:

• The 3-point margin is the smallest during the win streak; the Knicks had won their previous four games by 22.5 points per game.

• The Knicks shot 2-13 (15 percent) from beyond the arc versus Philadelphia, after making more than 40 percent of their 3-point attempts in their first four games under Woodson.

• New York also struggled on the break Wednesday, scoring just 10 points in transition, compared to an average of 23 transition points per game during the win streak prior to tonight.

Instead, New York pounded the ball inside and crashed the offensive boards to get easy points against Philadelphia. The Knicks outscored the 76ers 32-20 in the paint and 15-5 on second-chance opportunities.

This is just the second time the Knicks have won five games in row following an in-season coaching change, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. In the 1979-80 season, Red Holzman replaced Willis Reed and the Knicks won their next five games en route to a 31-51 final record.

Bulls get bench boost
The Chicago Bulls trailed 69-62 through the first three quarters of their game versus the Toronto Raptors, but used a 20-0 run to outscore the Raptors 32-15 in the final period for the 94-82 win.

The Bulls' reserves came up huge in the fourth quarter with 28 of the team’s 32 points. Kyle Korver and John Lucas combined to shoot 9-for-14 and scored 23 points after going scoreless in the first three quarters.

Three times a charm for Gordon
Ben Gordon erupted for 45 points, but missed a 21-footer with two seconds left, and the Denver Nuggets escaped with a 116-115 win over the Detroit Pistons.

Gordon converted all nine of his shots from beyond the arc, matching the most made 3-pointers without a miss in a game in NBA history. Gordon also achieved the feat in the 2005-06 season and Latrell Spreewell did it in the 2002-03 season.

Spurs, Lakers keep streaking
The San Antonio Spurs beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-100, extending their home win streak over the Timberwolves to 15 games. That is the fourth-longest current home winning streak by one team against an opponent, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Dallas Mavericks, pushing their winning streak over defending NBA champions to six. That streak dates back to a win over the Spurs in April 2008. Elias tells us that streak against defending champions is the longest of its kind in Lakers' franchise history and second longest to the Knicks who won seven straight over defending champions from 1994 to 1996.

A seven-and-a-half minute spurt of brilliance wasn’t enough for the New York Knicks to offset 40 minutes of what was a rough watch in their loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night.

Knicks guard Jeremy Lin had his second-worst game as a Knick from a plus-minus perspective. When he was on the floor, despite his 13 points and seven assists, the Knicks were outscored by 11 points. This was a big difference from the 28-point, 14-assist game he had against the Mavericks two weeks ago.

The Knicks made a good chunk of their comeback at the start of the fourth quarter (before the Mavericks' strong finish) with Baron Davis on the floor instead of Lin.

It was also a rough game for Carmelo Anthony, who was 2-for-12 from the field. Video review showed that Anthony was 0-for-5 on jump shots and 0-for-4 on shots around the basket.

Anthony is hitting the former at just a 31 percent clip this season and the latter at 51 percent. In Anthony’s tenure as a Knick last season, he hit those shots at rates of 39 percent and 58 percent, respectively.

The Mavericks had 30 free throw attempts to the Knicks' 23. The Mavericks entered the game sixth-worst in the NBA in free throw attempts per game (21) and had allowed 111 more free throw attempts than they’d taken (the differential ranked fifth-worst in the NBA)

The Mavericks shot 23 fewer free throws than the Thunder in a Monday loss, prompting Jason Kidd to criticize the officiating after the contest.

Of the last nine reigning NBA champs before the Mavericks, none finished a regular season ranked in the bottom 10 in the league in free throw attempt differential.

Bosh return key for Heat
Chris Bosh returned from a three-game absence to help the Miami Heat pummel the New Jersey Nets. The Heat were 18-for-22, a season-best 82 percent from inside five feet, and outscored the Nets by 20 points in the paint. In the three games without Bosh, the Heat shot 58 percent from inside five feet.

The Heat also grabbed 36 defensive rebounds, two short of their season-high against Charlotte on Dec. 28.

Feats of the Night
Josh Smith scored 27 points in a win over the Indiana Pacers.

That's nothing new. The Hawks are 12-0 this season in games when Smith scores at least 20 points.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that is the best record this season by a player who scored 20 points in at least 10 games this season..

Also, Celtics forward Kevin Garnett had 13 rebounds on Tuesday, which gave him 13,100 for his career. With the 13th rebound he passed Shaquille O'Neal for 12th place on the all-time career rebounds list.

Plus-Minus Note of the Night
Charlotte Bobcats backup center Byron Mullens had eight points and 13 rebounds in Charlotte’s 100-84 win over the Orlando Magic. In the 25 minutes that Mullens was on the court, the Bobcats outscored the Magic by 23 points.

This was the 61st career game for Mullens, but the first in which his plus-minus was in double figures on the positive side.

• It's near impossible to stop Chris Paul, but the trend around the league is to use a long, athletic swingman to smother the 6-foot point guard. That tactic has been effective for Golden State and Dallas, which used Dominic McGuire and Shawn Marion, respectively, to slow down Paul and the Clippers. But after reading this excellent post (with a great video of Paul discussing how he attacks taller players), I'm thinking that it takes more than one tall guy with quick feet to shut down CP3.
• Something new on Jeremy Lin: a stereotype scholar explains how racial stereotypes worked both for and against the Knicks point guard.
• Unexpected: John Hollinger says the Knicks are playing better defense when DPOY candidate Tyson Chandler sits. Expected: This has a lot to do with Chandler sharing the court with Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire. (Insider)
• Brandon Jennings has the foot speed to be a disruptive defender, but coach Scott Skiles would like to see him be a bit more conservative: “The thing that Brandon always has to battle is going for a steal, 'cause he can steal the ball. He had [Lou Williams] all bottled up, six, five left on the shot clock and he went for a steal, Lou went to his right hand and shot a dotted line jump shot. He’s still working on it, he’s just got to battle the urge to gamble when it’s just keep my man in front of me.”
• Is Chris Bosh better than LeBron James or Dwyane Wade? No. But he may be less dispensable to the Heat's offense. Brian Windhorst reports that Chris Bosh will return to the Heat lineup tonight after missing three games (two of them losses) following the death of his grandmother.
• The Raptors are fighting hard for new coach Dwane Casey, but it's still important that they lose their fair share of games in order to nab a high lottery pick. So, according to Prospect of Raptors Republic, last night was a perfect game: "The Raptors were outmatched, undermanned, but still somehow managed to put in a scrappy effort and almost won the game, pleasing tank nation while still giving the home fans a reason to show up."
• D.J. Foster on why the Clippers should be nervous about the postseason:"The best teams in the league force you to pick your poison, but the Clippers don’t really do that — Paul just administers the poison on his own and kills you himself. Eventually though, teams will start doubling Paul as soon as he crosses half court. We’ve seen it before in New Orleans — it’s not that crazy of a thought. They’ll get the ball out of his hands, and if they fail at that, they’ll collapse on him as soon as he moves towards the rim. Defenses will make anyone other than Paul beat them. A good portion of the time Paul will still beat them, but at times it will come down to things like this: Can Blake Griffin hit a mid-range jumper? Can Caron Butler hit the open 3 from the corner? Can Randy Foye make the right decision?
• Jan Vesely wants in the dunk contest. Anyone whose nickname is "Air Wolf" gets my blessing.
• Evan Turner's first start of the season didn't go so well. Should he be starting at all?
• For GQ, Bethlehem Shoals writes that fans give Lamar Odom the benefit of the doubt because he's never been shy about showing an emotional vulnerability that is unusual for professional athletes, but pretty common in most humans.
• The Charlotte Bobcats are making a legitimate run at being the worst team of all time. Related: Boris Diaw remains hopelessly out of shape, which may mean he's consuming calories equivalent to 200 White Castle burgers a week.
• Zach Lowe takes on the impossible task of quantifying Rajon Rondo's trade value.
• Plenty of people want to see Steve Nash get traded to a contender. But moving Robin Lopez might be more beneficial to the Suns.
• Despite missing Zach Randolph all season, the Grizzlies lurk as a sleeper to once again make a run in the Western Conference playoffs. But to do so, should they make a trade before the deadline?
• A lot has already happened since the All-Star break. Here's a funny video recap of it all (and some made up stuff, too).

Mavericks at Knicks – 1 ET on ABC
Despite Friday's loss to the New Orleans Hornets, it’s been a good two weeks for the New York Knicks, who have won seven of eight overall. And while Jeremy Lin has been the toast of New York City, he isn’t the only reason for the Knicks' recent success.

Over their past eight games, the Knicks rank second in the NBA in defensive efficiency, allowing just 93.7 points per 100 possessions. Prior to that, they ranked 11th in that same category.

Their game against the Dallas Mavericks represents the first test in a tough 14-game stretch in which the Knicks will play 11 games against teams with winning records.

Perhaps the biggest key to Sunday's game will be how the Mavericks defend what is suddenly the most pick-and-roll-dependent offense in the NBA.

Since Feb. 4, more than 27 percent of New York’s offensive possessions came via the pick-and-roll, according to video tracking by Synergy Sports. Over the course of the season, that would rank first in the NBA.

Lin in particular has leaned heavily on the pick-and-roll as nearly half of his offensive possessions have come as the P&R ball handler (see chart). Only Steve Nash runs a higher percentage of plays as the P&R ball handler.

Unfortunately for the Knicks, the Mavericks have the league’s top-ranked defense against the pick-and-roll ball handler, allowing just 0.65 points per play and holding opponents to 34 percent shooting.

Also, watch for whether Lin can limit the turnovers. Lin enters Sunday as the most turnover-prone P&R ball handler in the NBA, coughing it up on nearly 30 percent of his possessions. He will look to manage that number against a Mavericks defense which ranks second in the league in forcing turnovers when defending the pick-and-roll.

Magic at Heat - 3:30 ET on ABC
The second half of the ABC doubleheader pits the Orlando Magic at Miami Heat in their second meeting of the season. Orlando beat Miami 102-89 back on Feb. 8, behind a steady barrage of 3-pointers.

In that game, the Magic set a franchise record for 3-point attempts, finishing 17-for-42 from downtown, and actually attempted more 3-pointers than 2-pointers. In more than 16,000 regular-season games over the past 15 seasons, it was just the fifth time a team took more than half of its shots from beyond the arc.

That Orlando won while relying on its outside shooting is no surprise (see chart) -- 33 percent of the Magic’s total points this season have come from 3-pointers, the highest percentage in the NBA.

For Miami to avenge its loss, it will need to do a better job closing out on the Magic's shooters. In spot-up situations, Orlando ranks third in points per play (1.04) while its effective field goal percentage (53.2) ranks second.

Meanwhile, Miami ranks 23rd in defending spot-up situations while giving up a higher percentage of spot-up looks than any other team in the NBA.

The Linsanity continues.

Jeremy Lin and the New York Knicks won their season-high seventh straight game Wednesday with a 100-85 win against the Sacramento Kings.

The recent phenomenon finished with a modest 10 points (snapping a streak of six straight 20-point games), but posted a career-high 13 assists.

Lin had nine assists at the half (a career-best for a half) leaving him two shy of tying his previous single-game best for assists.

In the third quarter, assist No. 11 came on a bounce pass to a cutting Landry Fields along the baseline, who finished with layup. No. 12 came in transition, with a bounce pass to Jared Jeffries who finished with a dunk (in fact, seven of Lin’s 13 assists came on dunks).

Those assists were just a couple of the many looks inside five feet the Knicks had when Lin was on the floor.

The Knicks attempted more than 40 percent of their shots from inside five feet when Lin was on the court Wednesday, making 81 percent.

When Lin was on the bench, the team attempted just 21 percent of its field goals from inside five feet.

But the turnover bug continues to linger.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Lin’s fourth straight game with at least six turnovers tied a franchise mark shared with Patrick Ewing, Ray Williams and Bob McAdoo.

The Elias Sports Bureau also tells u Lin’s 36 turnovers over his first six career starts are the most turnovers in such a span since 1977, when turnovers began being officially recorded for individuals.

ELSEWHERE AROUND THE ASSOCIATION
• Rajon Rondo scored a career-high 35 points, though it came in a 98-88 Celtics loss to the Pistons. It's the first time in Rondo's career that he's posted consecutive 30-point games (scored 32 points Sunday against the Bulls).

• Tony Parker scored 34 points with 14 assists in a Spurs win against the Raptors. San Antonio has won nine straight overall for its longest win streak since winning 10 straight in December 2010.

• Deron Williams scored 26 points with 11 assists, but it came in the Nets’ 105-100 loss to the Grizzlies. It was Williams’ sixth 20-point, 10-assist game of the year, the most such games in the league this season.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Jeremy Lin’s 136 points in his five NBA starts is the highest point total for any player in his first five starts since John Drew tallied 139 points for the Atlanta Hawks in 1974-75. Among players who began their career since 1970, when Elias became the official statistician of the NBA, the high mark for the first six starts is 162 by Bob Lanier and Charlie Scott.

Standing Alone
Also from Elias, Lin is the only player to go undefeated and score 20 or more points in each of his first five starts since the ABA-NBA merger in 1976-77.

Better Late Than Never
Lin excels as the game progresses. During the New York Knicks six-game win streak, Lin has scored exactly twice as many points in the fourth quarter as the first quarter. In fact, his point production has improved each quarter (27, 38, 42, 54).

Two of a Kind
In the NFL this season, "Tebow Time" was the final nine minutes of the fourth quarter, in which Tim Tebow’s total QBR of 85.3 ranked third. In the final nine minutes of the fourth quarter in the NBA this season, Lin ranks fourth in Player Efficiency Rating (min. 85 minutes).

Tonight’s Game
The Sacramento Kings are among the league’s worst teams at defending the rolling man in pick-and-roll offenses, ranking in the bottom five in Points Per Play. Additionally, 15 percent of the points the Kings have allowed on those plays have come at the free-throw line, third-highest in the NBA. The Knicks offense ranks first in free-throw percentage in those situations.

Room for Improvement
Yes, there are aspects of Lin’s game that haven’t been spectacular. Lin has committed at least six turnovers in each of his last three games. According to Elias, he could tie the Knicks' record for consecutive games with at least six turnovers (a statistic that has been officially recorded for individuals since 1977). Ray Williams (1978-79), Bob McAdoo (twice during 1977-78) and Patrick Ewing (1993-94) all had streaks of four games in a row.

St. Knick?
Lin has scored at least 20 points and dished out at least seven assists in each of his last six games, tying Walt Frazier and Micheal Ray Richardson for the longest such streaks in Knicks history.

Expectations were high for the New York Knicks this season, with a full season of Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler playing together.

But a little more than a month into the season, the Knicks sit at 7-11 and are 10th in the Eastern Conference, already five games behind the surprising Philadelphia 76ers in their division.

The Knicks are 21-25 since trading for Anthony. At the time of the trade last season, they were 28-26.

Meanwhile, in the Western Conference, the Denver Nuggets, the team that gave up Anthony, have gone 30-12 since the trade, the third-best record in the NBA behind the Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder in that time.

The question now is where have the Knicks gone wrong?

Carmelo Trade a Mistake?
The Knicks are much the same team in terms of points allowed, points scored and field goal percentage before and after the Anthony trade over the past two seasons.

So it begs the question of whether trading for Anthony was a mistake, and if the Knicks would be better off with Danilo Gallinari.

This season, Gallinari ranks 10th in the NBA in Win Shares per 48 Minutes and his Player Efficiency Rating has risen from 15.7 to 21.2 this season.

Meanwhile, Anthony’s PER is a 20.8 this season, and his Effective Field Goal Percentage is 10.3 percent lower than Gallinari’s.

Overreliance on Isolation
This season, 15.8 percent of the Knicks offensive plays have come in isolation, the highest percentage in the NBA.

But the results haven’t been there, as, in isolation, the Knicks average 0.67 points per play, 25th best in the NBA, and shoot 30.3 percent, 29th in the NBA.

Two of the main culprits have been the Knicks superstars, Anthony and Stoudemire. 101 players in the NBA have run at least 20 plays in isolation this season, and of those, Anthony ranks 79th in points per play (0.65) and Stoudemire 84th (0.62).

D’Antoni’s Offense Didn’t Travel
In his last four seasons with the Phoenix Suns, current Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni led the Suns to the best offensive efficiency in the NBA in each season.

However, that offense has yet to be discovered in New York.

In D’Antoni’s first two seasons with the Knicks, New York ranked 17th and 15th in offensive effiency. Last season, the Knicks were an impressive fifth, but this year, it’s slipped to a paltry 24th out of 30 teams.

Unfortunately, the same porous defense that plagued D’Antoni in Phoenix has traveled to New York.

The Suns were 16th or worse in defensive efficiency in D’Antoni’s last four years. In his first three years with the Knicks, they ranked outside the top 20 in all three years. This year, however, New York has just cracked the top 10, a tie for ninth.

The key to D’Antoni’s sparkling offense in Phoenix might not have been D’Antoni himself, but the players running the offense. In the first two seasons after D’Antoni left, the Suns still led the NBA in offensive efficiency, and their mark rose from 97.1 in D’Antoni’s last season to 111.2 the next season.

KNICKS MAKE IT A NICKEL
The Milwaukee Bucks beat the New York Knicks who have now lost five straight games and stand at 6-9. Although Carmelo Anthony scored 35 points in the loss, the Knicks now stand at just 20-21 since trading for him last February.

A trend of leaning on Anthony in isolation continued against Milwaukee, as Anthony accounted for 15 of the Knicks’ 19 plays in isolation. On the season, the Knicks have ran a higher percentage of isolation plays than any other team, but are shooting just 29.3 percent on such plays, the worst in the NBA.

Brandon Jennings scored a season-high 36 points in the win, but did so without attempting a single free throw. He is the first player to score at least that many points without attempting a free throw since Jason Richardson in January 2008. Two of the three highest scoring games of his career have now come at Madison Square Garden, having hung 37 on March 25 of last season.

HOWARD SHOULDERS THE LOAD
Dwight Howard had 21 points and 23 rebounds to lead the Orlando Magic over the Los Angeles Lakers 92-80. It was Howard’s fifth game with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds this season, more than the rest of the NBA combined. According to Elias, Howard is the first player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975-76 with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in five of his team’s first 15 games of the season.

Although Kobe Bryant scored 30 points, the Lakers offense continues to struggle as they failed to top 100 points for the 10th straight game. That is tied for the second-longest such streak by the Lakers in the shot-clock era (since 1954-55).

BULLS WIN WITHOUT ROSE
Despite playing without Derrick Rose, the Chicago Bulls won 114-75, handing the Cleveland Cavaliers their worst home loss in franchise history. According to Elias, the 39-point margin of victory is the second-largest ever by the Bulls over the Cavaliers, trailing only a 121-80 result on December 22, 1970.

Chicago held Cleveland to just 30.3 percent shooting, the fifth-lowest allowed in a game this season. It was the fifth time this season the Bulls have held their opponent to under 35 percent shooting. The Lakers are the only other team with even three such games this season.

AROUND THE ASSOCIATION
• The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Atlanta Hawks 90-76 to improve to 11-4, their best start since starting 11-4 in 2002-03.

• LaMarcus Aldrige had 33 points, 23 rebounds and five assists to lead the Portland Trail Blazers over the Toronto Raptors. He is only the sixth player in the last 25 seasons to reach those threshold in a single game and the first to do it since Kevin Garnett in 2003-04.

• The Detroit Pistons scored 81 points in a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. It’s Pistons’ 16th straight game they have failed to score 100 points, their third-longest such streak in the shot-clock era.

One of the most notable storylines in the early part of this NBA season is that offenses have not been in sync.

As a result, several teams have gotten out to great starts defensively. Two of them were on display Monday Night.

The Chicago Bulls and Philadelphia 76ers set a new standard for defending their homecourt with their victories over the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers.

It’s a bit of an obscure record, but a notable mark nonetheless, one provided by the Elias Sports Bureau. In the NBA’s shot clock era (since 1954), this year’s Bulls (206) and 76ers (221) have allowed the fewest points in their first three home games.

The previous mark was set by the 2003-04 Spurs, who allowed 229 points in their first three home games.

After beating the Pistons 92-68, the Bulls have now held two of their three opponents at home to below 70 points. They held the Grizzlies to 64 points on New Year’s Day.

Also via Elias, the Bulls are now 13-0 against the Pistons over the last four calendar years, the best record for any NBA team against a particular opponent over that span.

The 76ers continue along in surprising fashion. Through eight games, they are holding opponents to just under 90 points per 100 possessions, which represents an early dramatic improvement from last season, in which they allowed 102.5 points per 100. Philadelphia’s +14.7 point differential is the best in the NBA.

Chandler getting into flow for Knicks
Tyson Chandler had his best game since joining the New York Knicks, going 7-for-8 from the field and scoring 20 points in a win over the Charlotte Bobcats.

Chandler had a pair of alley-oops among his seven baskets. He’s had four alley-oops in his last two games after netting five in his first seven games.

Plus-Minus Note of the Night
The Minnesota Timberwolves got far better production from their bench than their starters. All five Timberwolves reserves finished with a positive plus-minus, but each of their starters had a -11 plus-minus or worse in a 97-87 loss to the Toronto Raptors.

Most impressive was J.J. Barea. The Timberwolves outscored the Raptors by 21 points when Barea played and they were outscored by 31 when he was off the floor.

Rookie Ricky Rubio finished a +1 in 30 minutes. He is now a +49 through the Timberwolves first nine games.

On Wednesday, the New York Knicks dropped a game to the Charlotte Bobcats, 118-110, to drop to 2-4 on the season and now sit four games back of the Miami Heat atop the Eastern Conference.

Three areas stand out for reasons for the Knicks’ early-season struggles.

Tyson Chandler: Not Helping?
The Knicks acquired Tyson Chandler to help their defense. Unfortunately, not only has the team performed better on defense when Chandler is not on the floor, he’s also had a depressing performance on the team’s offense. The Knicks put up a better points per 100 possessions, both offensively and defensively, when Chandler is not in the game.

If we look at it from a broader perspective, the Knicks’ overall numbers have not improved, either.

Two areas in which one would expect Chandler to have a significant impact would include, naturally, points allowed as well as rebound rate. The Knicks have not improved relative to the league in either of those categories. They've dropped from 21st to 23rd in the league in defensive efficiency, and have remained 28th in rebound rate.

Carmelo Anthony: Not a Savior?
Presumably, one of the reasons the Knicks went out and acquired Carmelo Anthony was because they viewed him as a franchise cornerstone, difference-maker type player. While no one doubts his scoring prowess, it’s fair to question whether he has a tangible impact on a team’s ability to win games.

Over the last two seasons, the Knicks are two games over .500 before acquiring Anthony, and two games under after Anthony became a Knick. Their points scored, allowed and field goal percentage are virtually the same before and after Anthony.

The Denver Nuggets, on the other hand, are 23-9 since trading Carmelo Anthony, after sitting at 32-25 last season before trading their superstar. Only the Bulls have a better record since Feb. 22, 2011, the date of the trade.

Amar'e Stoudemire: Hurt by Point Guards?
Amar’e Stoudemire predates both Chandler and Anthony in New York, but it appears he’s being hurt by point guard play that has dropped off since last season.

With Toney Douglas this season, Stoudemire is averaging 5.3 shots in the restricted zone per 36 minutes. Last season, with Raymond Felton on the floor, Stoudemire was averaging 7.2 of those shots per 36 minutes.

His scoring, field goal percentage and free throw attempts per game have also dropped off this season with Douglas on the floor compared to his numbers last season with Felton.

This has matched scouting reports, that Douglas is more of a scoring point guard who may have trouble setting up teammates.

Somebody finally figured out how to slow down the Miami Heat. The Atlanta Hawks opened the fourth quarter with a 15-3 run on Monday night, outscoring Miami 33-21 in final quarter to hand the Heat their first loss of the season.

The Heat had a season-low 92 points and struggled offensively because they could not get out in transition. In their first five games, the Heat were averaging 101.6 possessions per game and were one of the best transition teams in the NBA. On Monday, Miami had a season-low 92 possessions and struggled to get out on the break.

The Hawks also dominated the Heat down low with a 50-38 advantage in the paint. Entering Monday night, Miami was allowing only 32.8 points in the paint per game, the third-fewest in the NBA, and were outscoring their opponents in the paint by an average of 16.4 points per game.

Miami’s ball-hawking defense was also absent against Atlanta as the Hawks committed only 10 turnovers, the fewest by any Heat opponent this season. The Heat generated just 13 points off turnovers, also a season-low and nearly half of their season average through the first five games.

In its first five games Miami scored 35.7 percent of its transition points directly off “live-ball” turnovers. On Monday only one of the Heat’s 13 transition plays resulted from a “live-ball” turnover, and they scored just one point on that play.

LeBron James was the lone star for Miami and finished with a game-high 28 points on 11-of-18 shooting. James now has 176 points on the season, his most points scored through his team’s first six games in any season of his career.

James, however, really struggled in isolation as he made just 2-of-7 shots and averaged a season-worst 0.57 points per play. He entered the game making nearly half of his shots in isolation and averaging almost a point per play.

Elsewhere Around The Association
• Kevin Love scored a team-high 24 points and pulled down 15 rebounds for his fifth double-double this season, as the Minnesota Timberwolves' snapped a 16-game losing streak vs the San Antonio Spurs.

Love has at least 20 points and 12 rebounds in each of his first five games this season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the only other NBA player to do that since 1976-77 was Charles Barkley in 1992-93.

• Mike Bibby played just 15 minutes in the New York Knicks' 90-85 loss to the Toronto Raptors and scored zero points as he missed all three of his shot attempts from beyond the arc.

The Raptors outscored the Knicks by 18 points while he was on the court, which was the worst plus-minus on the team despite Bibby playing fewer minutes than all but two teammates.

NBA Playbook's new editor Brett Koremenos was awfully impressed by Carmelo Anthony's nuanced and "ruthlessly efficient" pick-and-roll game and has video to illustrate how Anthony's size helps him spot passing windows when the defense traps or hedges. What's more, Anthony made sharp reads against one of the league's very best pick-and-roll defenses. How good can the Knicks offense become if Anthony embraces his inner Hedo Turkoglu?

With the season set to tip-off on Christmas Day, here are four major statistical storylines to keep a close eye on:

Can the Mavericks repeat?
With the departure of Tyson Chandler, J.J. Barea and DeShawn Stevenson, the Dallas Mavericks will be the first defending champion since the 1998-99 Bulls to lose three of its top seven in minutes played from the previous season’s NBA Finals.

Added to the mix are Lamar Odom and Vince Carter. In Odom, the Mavericks added an incredibly efficient half-court scorer according to our video-tracking friends at Synergy Sports. Among all qualified forwards, he ranked third in the NBA in points per play in the half court, trailing only Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitzki.

Carter is also a good fit. Last season, only five teams scored more points on spot-up shots. In 2010-11 Carter ranked in the Top 25 in the NBA in field goal attempts per game, field goal percentage and points per game on spot-up shots.


How does Chris Paul improve the Clippers?
As a pick-and-roll ball handler last season, Chris Paul ranked sixth in the NBA in points per play among the 103 players with at least 100 pick-and-roll plays. As a team the Los Angeles Clippers ranked 17th in pick-and-roll efficiency while Paul’s old team in New Orleans ranked seventh.
Look for Paul to help improve the Clippers jump-shooting woes as well. Last season the Clippers shot just 35.1 pct on jump shots which ranked dead last in the NBA. Paul ranked 20th in jump shot FG attempts, but did so with great efficiency, connecting on 44 percent. Of the 19 players which took more jumpers, only Dirk Nowitzki, Stephen Curry and Ray Allen shot a better percentage.

While the loss of Eric Gordon hurts, consider this: accounting for three-pointers, Gordon had a 48.5 adjusted FG pct on jump shots... worse than both Paul (49.8) and Chauncey Billups (52.7).


Will youth be served in Oklahoma City?
While James Harden and Serge Ibaka continue to improve, the main focus is on Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

Durant is looking to become the first player since Michael Jordan in 1997-98 to lead the league in scoring three straight seasons. Westbrook meanwhile is coming off a 2010-11 season in which he emerged as one of the league’s best finishers at the rim, ranking sixth in points scored within three feet.

Perhaps the biggest concern with the Thunder is the potential for an alpha-dog dispute. Durant was the unquestioned go-to guy down the stretch during the regular season, an assumption which was then challenged by Westbrook during the postseason (see chart).

Regardless of who takes the big shots, an improvement on their combined 3-26 effort would surely bring OKC closer to a title.

Bigger impact on the East: Richard Hamilton or Tyson Chandler?
While many presume we won’t know anything new about the Miami Heat until the playoffs, the same can’t be said for the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks who added major pieces in Richard Hamilton and Tyson Chandler.

The Bulls brought in Hamilton to take the place of Keith Bogans, who despite starting all 82 games, averaged just 4.4 PPG which was the fewest among all players with at least 50 starts. With Derrick Rose having the second-highest usage rate in the NBA last season, scoring without the ball is an essential skill for all other Bulls players. Among guards, Hamilton has the fifth-most assisted FG on shots beyond 15 feet over the last three seasons.

Chandler’s most significant responsibility will be to improve a Knicks interior defense which allowed opponents to shoot 45.3 percent on post ups last season (21st in the NBA). On post up plays in which he played single coverage, Chandler held opponents to 41.4 pct shooting. That is at least 5 points better than any of the players who saw minutes at center for the Knicks last season.