Apr 2, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; New York Knicks small forward Carmelo Anthony (7) shoots over Miami Heat power forward Udonis Haslem (40) during the first half at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
With LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Mario Chalmers all out (again) for this game against the Knicks, I figured this game was going to be a 25 point blowout by the Knicks as they faced Chris Bosh and
pretty much nobody else
the Heat scrubs.
Looking fresh
Turns out those Heat scrubs are pretty good.
Mike Miller stepped up, hitting important three pointers, including one that helped the Heat take a five point lead in the second quarter after the Heat had trailed the Knicks 25-27 after the first quarter. He even had this semi-nasty put-back slam that got LeBron and Wade out of their seats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOG6B372lKM
The Heat were effective during the first half, with Mike Miller and Norris Cole going a combined 12 of 14 in the (87.5%) and the Heat actually out-rebounded the New York Knicks 17-10.
Unfortunately for the Heat, Carmelo Anthony had a vintage Carmelo performance finishing with 50 points on 18 of 26 shooting. Let me repeat that…Carmelo scored 50 points and shot only 26 shots!
.@carmeloanthony: "I felt it today. Regardless of who suited up, we wanted to win this basketball game." http://t.co/OYHejyKb2t #Knicks
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) April 3, 2013
Melo just put on one of the great mid-range and long-range jump-shooting exhibitions you will ever see.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) April 3, 2013
You knew Melo was going to have one hell of a game when he scored 17 points on 7 of 8 shooting in the first quarter alone. Anthony finished the half with 27 points, though the Heat were still up 58 to 50 at halftime, mostly because any Knick not named Carmelo Anthony struggled offensively. Only two other Knicks, Raymond Felton (10 points) and J.R. Smith (14 points), finished with double-digit points; Tyson Chandler had all of one point (one point!) in 23 minutes of play.
After halftime, the Knicks outscored the Heat 18-28 in the third quarter, taking a 68-67 lead with around six minutes left in the third quarter and never looked back. Even though the score was 76 (Heat) – 78 (Knicks) at the start of the fourth (and even though Bosh, who had a good game, had managed to tie it up with around 7 minutes left in the fourth quarter on an and-1),
Carmelo Anthony
the Knicks went on a 9-0 run with five minutes remaining to put the game out of reach.
- Bosh had 23 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists.
- Miller finished with 18 points (4-8 from three)
- Norris Cole had 14 points (though he did have seven turnovers) and Ray Allen had 16 points (5-7).
Spoelstra summed it up nicely:
Highlights:
Ray Allen’s Jordan Impersonation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azuO3OxF9GU
Kenyon Martin Fooling Father Time And Dunking Over Birdman:
Full Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwgtyMk4V9o