Heat sics Battier and LeBron on Melo
Carmelo Anthony #7 (L) of the New York Knicks is defended by Joel Anthony #50 and Shanes Battier #31 of the Miami Heat. (April 28, 2012) Credit: Getty Images
MIAMI -- The Heat immediately knew what it didn't want to do.
Miami didn't want Carmelo Anthony to have the kind of game Saturday that he did against the Heat April 15 at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks lost that game, but Anthony made it close by scoring 42 points.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra knew his team couldn't risk giving Anthony that kind of free rein again. So Miami set out to deny him the ball, fronting him in the post with LeBron James and Shane Battier.
The result was as ugly as you can expect for a team that relies so heavily on isolations and post-ups for one player. Anthony was held to 3-for-15 shooting and 11 points as the Heat opened its first-round series against the Knicks with a resounding 100-67 win.
The Heat didn't want to put the entire onus on James, so it turned to Battier, one of the key additions to the team that went to last year's NBA Finals.
"He's such a seasoned veteran. We only had 24 hours to put the game play in, but he had the intellect," Spoelstra said of Battier. "He was able to pick it up immediately, and he's got arguably one of the toughest covers in the league."
Battier signed with the Heat two weeks before the start of the season, and James said games like this one are exactly why the Heat went after him.
"He can take some of the pressure off myself and Dwyane Wade and guard some of the best players in the wing position in this league," James said. "He's a very smart and crafty defender."
Battier said his goal was to make Anthony exert the maximum effort to get every point.
"He's too good of a player to let him catch where he wants and catch and operate," Battier said. "I just wanted to make him work."
In the first half, Anthony was held to 1-for-9 shooting and seven points and the Knicks fell behind 54-31. Anthony's struggle seemed to leave the Knicks stunned and unable to make adjustments.
James, however, expects Anthony and the Knicks to come back with a plan on how to deal with the defense in Game 2 Monday.
"He's a great player and he will make adjustments like all players do," James said. "We just have to come back at him and be aggressive."
