Heat tough on Lin in 102-88 win over Knicks
Norris Cole guards Jeremy Lin during a game at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. (Feb. 23, 2012) Credit: Getty Images
MIAMI -- Jeremy Lin and the Knicks had been rolling along, winning games, stealing headlines and making everyone take notice. The problem was they got the Miami Heat's attention.
Before Thursday night's game against the Knicks, the Heat had been answering questions about Lin for days. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the rest of the team couldn't wait to show that the Heat had the answer for Lin -- emphatically.
Lin had his worst game since becoming the face of the NBA, finishing with as many turnovers as points in the Knicks' 102-88 loss to the Heat.
"I'm sure they were all geeked up," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said. "They took the challenge and they did a great job. It's hard to be Peter Pan every day. He had an off night. He's not daunted at all."
Lin had been enjoying a magical run, leading the Knicks to nine wins in 11 games before making what could be considered an unexpected return trip to Miami. When the Knicks were here in late January, Lin asked everyone at pregame chapel that night to pray he didn't get cut.
The Heat's plan Thursday night was to get into Lin and play him physically on pick-and-rolls. Miami wanted to rattle the seemingly unflappable point guard, and it worked, as the Heat's speed and athleticism affected him. Lin shot 1-for-11 and had eight points, three assists and eight turnovers.
"They did a great job of making me uncomfortable," Lin said. "I'm not going to hang my head or anything like that. I know I went out there and I played hard. You can't win them all, and you can't have a great game every game. But at the same time, I need to understand, OK, what did I do wrong? How can I improve?"
The Knicks go into the All-Star break at 17-18 and know they need to improve their chemistry and cohesion before they can join the NBA's elite. The Heat (27-7) won its eighth straight game, all by double-digits.
Chris Bosh scored 25 points, Wade had 22 points and James added 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 19 points but shot 7-for-20. J.R. Smith had 14 points and Amar'e Stoudemire 13.
As promised, James spent some time on Lin, but Mario Chalmers was the primary defender and rookie Norris Cole also guarded him. Both had steals on Lin that they converted into fast-break dunks in what was a long, difficult night for the Knicks' point guard.
"His head was down," Anthony said. "So we all went over to him [and said], 'Cheer up. We have nights like this. You're going to have nights like this. You're playing against one of the best teams in the NBA, if not the best team in the NBA. And they really focused in on trying to stop you tonight. You know, you're on the scouting report now.' He laughed about it."
There was a playoff-like atmosphere inside AmericanAirlines Arena with the amount of media and all the hype surrounding Lin's first game against the Heat. At times it felt like a playoff game because of how intense and physical the game was.
The Knicks led for a good part of the second period, but the Heat brought a 14-point lead into the fourth. Miami went ahead 92-76 on James' jumper with 6:27 left, and the Knicks got no closer than 10 after that.
D'Antoni tried to downplay this being a measuring-stick game or one with any bearing on how the season will play out.
"It's one game and we're not there yet. They're there," he said. "They're the team to beat for everybody. They're playing better than everybody. We're trying to get our team together."
