Heat 106, Knicks 98: Reactions To The Knicks' Loss

Here are a few reactions from around the Inter-Google to the New York Knicks 106-98 loss to the Miami Heat Tuesday night.

From Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post:

The Heat are indisputably the NBA’s favorite traveling road show, even when they play at home, a moving carnival replete with freak shows and bearded ladies. But they are also a hell of a team on a hell of a run, they’d come off a Christmas trip to L.A. where they’d made the defending champs look like a CYO team. The Knicks aren’t in that class yet.

But they can ponder it. Admire it. Covet it.

“We’re still getting better,” Stoudemire said, and they are. Fast enough where soon enough, coming close will cease to be an acceptable standard. Soon enough.

From New York Magazine:

Now, there are no moral victories — a loss is a loss — and if you ain’t first you’re last, but the Knicks at least took a step in the right direction last night. That they almost managed to erase the damage of that horrid first quarter suggests that maybe — just maybe — they’ve got what it takes to topple a contender or two at some point. With a stop in Orlando up next and games against the Spurs and Lakers on the horizon, there are plenty of topple-tunities (forgive me) to come. They’ve shown that a quarter or two of decent basketball can get them close, but it’ll clearly take a steadier performance to actually steal an upset.

The Palm Beach Post raves about Miami’s defense:

Now that nearly half the 2010-11 has passed, it’s not a leap to say two things:

The Heat’s clear strength, for all of its offensive starpower, is its defense.

And this may turn out to be the best defensive team in the franchise’s history.

Yes, better than any of the stout defensive squads of the late 1990s anchored by Alonzo Mourning, including the 1998-99 team that allowed just 41.1 percent shooting and 84.0 points per game. Yes, much better than the 2005-06 champions, which allowed 44.0 percent and 96.0 points.

Entering Tuesday’s game, the Heat led the league in the three most critical defensive categories: points against (90.8), overall shooting percentage against (42.4 percent) and three-point percentage against (31.1 percent). It had held its previous 15 opponents to 86.7 points, not allowing any to score more than 98.

Heat 106, Knicks 98: Twenty-Two Point Deficit Too Big For Knicks

A 22-point deficit did not stop the New York Knicks from giving the Miami Heat all they could handle Tuesday night in Miami. It was, however, just a bit too much for the Knicks to overcome.

The Knicks, who trailed from the outset, whittled that 22-point deficit all the way to three points, but could get no closer as Miami held on for a 106-98 victory at American Airlines Arena.

Dwayne Wade was spectacular for Miami, scoring a season-high 40 points. Wade hit a key three-pointer and LeBron James (18 points) made a driving layup to help Miami hold off a spirited Knick rally. Wade also had 15 fourth-quarter points.

The Knicks (18-13) spotted the Heat a 16-point lead after one quarter, trailing, 34-18, and spent the rest of the game trying to overcome that poor start.

“I told the guys, a 22-point lead against the Knicks is similar to a seven- or eight-point game against a normal team,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “They kept on coming … and that’s what they do.”

Amare Stoudemire had 30 points for the Knicks. He has now scored 20 or more points in 16 straight games, the longest such streak since Patrick Ewing’s 17 consecutive games from January 8 – February 6, 1994.

Miami’s biggest edge in this game was in rebounding, where they held a 50-32 advantage. James, Chris Bosh and Zydrunas Ilgauskas all had 10 rebounds for the Heat, who are now 24-9.

New York Knicks At Miami Heat: Another Test For Knicks

Lately it seems like every game provides the resurgent New York Knicks with some sort of measuring stick. No doubt that will be the case tonight when the 18-12 Knicks visit Miami to take on LeBron James and the Miami Heat.

The Knicks are 15-4 in their last 19 games, but one of those four losses was a 113-91 drubbing by the Heat on Dec. 17 at Madison Square Garden. James quieted the faithful at MSG with 32 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

Amare Stoudemire and company head into tonight's matchup after a pair of impressive victories over Oklahoma City and Chicago last week at Madison Square Garden. They held the Thunder and Bulls to a combined 41.5 percent shooting.

"We're really playing great defense right now," said Raymond Felton, who has handed out 10 or more assists in six straight games. "Our offense is clicking right now, as well. Our defense has really been great over these past couple of games. That's why we're winning games."

Miami struggled early in the season as James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh tried to figure out how to blend their considerable skills. They are 15-2 in their last 17 games, however, with only a pair of losses to Dallas as blemishes.

"There were a lot of components, big components, that we were trying to incorporate. That takes time," said Miami coach Erik Spoelstra. "But there were other things that we had to go through. We had to go through some adversity to figure out that we have to do this together."

James averages 24.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 7.2 assists for Miami, Wade gets 23.3 points, 6.4 assists and 4.3 rebounds and Bosh gets 18.5 points and 8.2 rebounds nightly.