The heat is on the Heat

The Miami Heat showed last night why they may have a lot more difficulty getting through the Eastern Conference playoffs and to the finals than their record would indicate.

The team led the Knicks last night for most of the game — but surrendered two significant Knicks runs that ultimately doomed the Heat and the Heats’ big guns came up small when they needed to come up huge.

Lebron James and Dwayne Wade looked flustered and Chris Bosh disappeared for long stretches. There were lazy passes and an inability to contain Carmelo Anthony when Anthony wanted it.

What seemed obvious, as the game clocked ticked down to zero was that the Knicks wanted it more, from Anthony’s decision to cover James down the stretch to Amar’e’s huge block on James to Chauncey Billups once again living up to his nickname.

What was striking was the Knicks’ defense when it mattered. A team that no one will confuse with the Willis/Clyde or Ewing/Oakley Knicks, Stat and Melo made it clear last night that they were ready to put in the effort on the defensive end, and the role players — Bill Walker, Shawn Williams, Rony Turiaf — played their roles well.

The Knicks are not going far in the playoffs this year — though I do think they match up well with their likely first-round opponents Chicago or Miami.

But I have my doubts as to whether the Heat can go far, as well. The Celtics play devastating defense, as does Dwight Howard and Orlando. And the Heat just don’t close out games or win close games (5-11 in games decided by 5 or less) or consistently beat good teams (under .500 against teams above .500).

None of this is meant to indicate that the Heat are a bad team. These numbers are going to change and the Heat will move to the top of the heap. It’s just that, this year, the Heat have a lot of work to do.

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Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie.

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