May 9, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat power forward Chris Bosh (1) is fouled by New York Knicks small forward Carmelo Anthony (7) during the second half of game five in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals of the 2012 NBA Playoffs at the American Airlines Arena. Miami won 106-94. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

The Heat are coming off a convincing victory in the season opener against the Boston Celtics. In the 4th quarter LeBron James had to leave the game due to leg cramps, and it seemed like Miami’s big lead was slipping away. Miami managed to get it done in the end, exploding for 120 points, which is by all means no easy feat when you are up against the Celtics. Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis were looking solid off the bench, scoring 19 and 10 points respectively.

The Knicks are banged up at the moment as Amar’e Stoudemire is sidelined and the defensive ace Iman Shumpert is still recovering from his knee injury. A lot of people questioned whether it was the right decision for the Knicks to let go of Jeremy Lin and replace him with Raymond Felton. Before being traded to the Nuggets in 2011, Felton was playing on an all-star level, but his career took a turn for the worst after that. He has looked solid during the pre-season and will be looking to regain the form he had in his previous tenure with the Knicks.

Apart from acquiring Felton, the Knicks signed a lot of veterans in free-agency, and in turn got a lot older. Kurt Thomas, Jason Kidd, Marcus Camby, Pablo Prigioni and Rasheed Wallace were all signed in the off-season. Ronnie Brewer was also signed in order to solidify the Knicks’ defense.

Oct 30, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade (3) dunks against the Boston Celtics during the second half at American Airlines Arena. The Heat won 120-107. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

Keys to the game

LeBron James left the game with leg cramps against the Celtics, but knowing him he should be just fine to play tonight, especially having enjoyed 2 days off. James scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, shooting 10-16 from the field, in a mere 29 minutes. It will be important for James to continue being that efficient as well as crashing the boards.

Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis combined for 29 points on 9-12 shooting, and provided a huge spark off the bench for the Heat. Both players have to continue carrying some of the load on offense to take pressure of the big 3.

While the Knicks improved defensively last year, the team’s biggest weapon is still their offense. With Stoudmire out, Carmelo Anthony will be carrying the scoring load, while Felton has the ability to ignite the offense by scoring himself or distributing the basketball. Miami did a very good job closing out on Steve Novak and limiting his 3-point attemps and efficiency in last year’s playoffs, and will have to continue doing the same tonight.

Despite scoring 120 points against the Celtics, Miami only had 12 fast break points, and it will be interesting to see if the team can remain as consistent offensively running their half-court sets. Mario Chalmers did a good job distributing the ball last game, dishing out 11 assists, and will need to continue on the same track.

The Heat really exposed Jeremy Lin and showed what his weaknesses were. He was a non-factor with 8 points and just as many turnovers. Melo had 19 points and Amare chipped in with 13, but J.R. Smith came off the bench for Landry Fields and played very well. Steve Novak had 12 points on 4-5 shooting, while only shooting 3 pointers.

This looked like it was going to be an amazing game in the first half, but the Heat ended it in the 3rd half. Miami pulled away and never looked back off of that. This was a big win against an energized Knicks team, and now they can go into the All-Star Break knowing that they disabled New York with their defense. Great way to end the first half of the season!