Nba Playoffs Rd 1: [2] Miami Heat Vs. [7] New York Knicks

[King Taharqa]

[2] Miami Heat (46-20)

PG-#15 "Rio" Chalmers

Kansas '08

6'2 190 lbs

9.8 PPG 2.7 RPG 3.4 APG 39.8 3PT%

SG-#3 Dwyane "Flash" Wade

Marquette '03

6'4 220 lbs

22.5 PPG 4.9 RPG 4.7 APG 1.7 SPG 1.3 BPG 49.7 FG%

SF-#6 LeBron "King" James

St. Vincent-St. Mary HS '03 (Akron, OH)

6'8 260 lbs

27.1 PPG 7.9 RPG 6.3 APG 1.9 SPG 36.3 3PT%

PF-#40 Udonis Haslem

Florida '02

6'9 245 lbs

6.0 PPG 7.3 RPG 81.4 FT%

C-#1 Chris Bosh

Georgia Tech '03

6'11 235 lbs

18.0 PPG 7.9 RPG 1.8 SPG 52.8 FG%

BENCH

PG-#30 Norris Cole

SG-#13 Mike Miller

SF-#31 Shane Battier

SF-#22 James Jones

PF-#50 Joel Anthony

C-#21 Ronny Turiaf

C-#45 Dexter Pittman

HEAD COACH

Erik Spoelstra

[King Taharqa]

[7] New York Knicks (36-30)

PG-#85 Baron Davis

UCLA '99

6'3 215 lbs

5.7 PPG 2.0 RPG 4.6 APG

SG-#2 Landry Fields

Stanford '10

6'7 215 lbs

8.8 PPG 4.2 RPG 2.6 APG 1.2 SPG

SF-#7 Carmelo Anthony

Syracuse '03

6'8 230 lbs

22.4 PPG 6.2 RPG 3.7 APG 33.2 3PT% 80.2 FT%

PF-#1 Amar'e Stoudemire

Cypress Creek HS '02 (Orlando, FL)

6'10 260 lbs

17.5 PPG 7.9 RPG 1.1 APG

C-#6 Tyson Chandler

Dominguez HS '01 (Compton, CA)

7'1 240 lbs

11.3 PPG 10.0 RPG 1.4 BPG

BENCH

PG-#20 Mike Bibby

SG-#8 J.R. Smith

PF-#16 Steve Novak

C-#9 Jared Jeffries

HEAD COACH

Mike Woodson

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This will probably be the most hyped 1st round series of the playoff. This is the matchup that New York wanted. But truth is, they don't want it! Heat will beat these boys in 5 games. That is unless the league stretches this out for ratings. Heat-Knicks is a real rivalry, but Knicks don't match up with this Heat squad.

[HeatCheck]

Two great defensive teams going against each other, one of the most interesting first round match-ups. I got Miami winning this series but it should be fun to watch.

It'll be interesting to see if the use Shumpert on on LBJ, pesky defender.

Novak is going to be key in stretching that Miami D.

[God]

cant wait for this series. if novak and JR are hitting, watch out.

[Kakarot]

This is the series I pick the upset. NY in 6 games. I really like that NY lineup. Plus I believe NY can slow it down and get into some half court ball, which is a weakness of Miami

[thatlookseasy]

I dont see the Knicks putting up much of a fight in this series, unless Melo goes crazy and starts hitting everything he throws up. The problem I see for the Knicks is they have to slow the game down and make it a half-court game, but I dont know if their offense can handle the pressure the Heat will throw at them. Remember- last year the Heat really stepped up their defense once the playoffs started, and its going to happen again this year. I dont know if the Knicks offense will be able to handle the pressure- nobody has really taken over the creator/ facilitator role since Lin went down, and when the Knicks start running isolations they tend to jack up a lot of bad shots. I dont see them hitting enough of those shots to win this series

[King Taharqa]

Im interested in seeing what kind of scrutiny Melo takes when the Knicks lose. To me, Melo is a great player, but NBA fans coddle him and make excuses for his lack of postseason success. He came in the same draft as LeBron, is a year older, and yet you rarely hear people demand he add rings or even Finals appearances to his legacy. 9 seasons and he's only been out of the 1st round once. I don't think that changes this season either.

[HeatCheck]

Im interested in seeing what kind of scrutiny Melo takes when the Knicks lose. To me, Melo is a great player, but NBA fans coddle him and make excuses for his lack of postseason success. He came in the same draft as LeBron, is a year older, and yet you rarely hear people demand he add rings or even Finals appearances to his legacy. 9 seasons and he's only been out of the 1st round once. I don't think that changes this season either.

I think it's because he isn't nearly gifted a player as LBJ. It may not be fair but there are greater expectations for LBJ because he is more physically talented. Melo is one of the best, if not the best scorer in the NBA. But his defense is too inconstant, he can show up big against good competition but not all the time.

[King Taharqa]

Looks like Tyson Chandler will miss game 1 with the flu. Tough break for NY.

[King Taharqa]

Look at J Pep sittin courtside. Dude is a big fan of #6.

[Kakarot]

Man, come on! That's no flagrant

I can't tell if Lebron's getting fouled or not, all that damn flopping he's doing. New York is done...

[theyhateme45]

Great first half for Miami... I am loving it... They are active, moving, great team defense.... Bosh has missed some gimmies down low but the aggressive offense is creating free throws....

I will say the one out of bounds fouls was a little sell job by LBJ, though I think it was still a foul...

The flagrant call was questionable, looked worst than it was... def a foul and LBJ did get pretty bad whiplash on that play.

[Keith Moons Liver]

Lebron has to be trolling everybody. Why else would the best player on the planet flop so blatantly so consistently despite it being a blow out. Dude is 280 pounds of pure muscle and falls down whenever anyone puts a hand on him. Sometimes I think basketball is basically just soccer for black people.

[theyhateme45]

Damn NBA... another injury... Now Shumpart goes down... I do not like seeing these players go down.