Knicks Heat Round One Playoff Preview

The 66 game regular season has come to an end.  The playoffs have finally arrived.  The Knicks are locked on to the 7th seed and will play the 2nd seeded Miami Heat in the first round.  Game one will be Saturday afternoon at 3:30 in Miami.  The Heat finished the season with a 46-20 record while the Knicks finished with a 36-30 record.  Miami dominated New York in the regular season winning all three games against them by an average of ten points.

The Heat are not the best matchup for the Knicks.  That is without a doubt, but the Carmelo Anthony led Knicks could make a series of this.  The Knicks have been playing good basketball finishing the season very hot.  With the exception of Jeremy Lin, who will most likely miss the entire first round, the Knicks are coming into the playoffs fairly healthy.  Amare Stoudemire is back and looked strong in the last couple of games of the season.  Tyson Chandler will be ready to go as he got to rest himself for a couple of games.

The key to this series will be the play of Amare Stoudemire.  Stoudemire needs to help Melo in the scoring department and needs to outplay Chris Bosh.  As soon as Amare went down in last years playoff with injury the series was a wrap.  The Knicks need to get the continued incredible play of Anthony as well as a strong series from Amare if they want any chance to make this a series.  Another huge factor in this series will be the defense of Iman Shumpert on Dwyane Wade.  We have seen the aggressive defense from the rookie Shumpert all season that has had many guards frustrated.  If Shumpert can contain Wade throughout the series and force LeBron James to carry this team, the Knicks will make this a long series.

The problem is that the Heat just have too much athleticism and talent for the Knicks.  LeBron James will most likely win an NBA MVP this season, Dwyane Wade has done it before in the playoffs and the Heat are looking to start the dynasty that they hoped for when signing the "big three" last season.

The Knicks will keep this a good series because of their improved depth and the strong shooters they have off the bench such as Steve Novak and J.R. Smith.  New York is going to have to get improved play from their backcourt and some big buckets by guys other than Stat and Melo.  The Knicks hope to revive Madison Square Garden and pull off the upset this series like they did against Miami 12 years ago.  Sunday afternoon the rivalry continues....

My Prediction: Heat in 6

Nets Should Be in Desperation Mode

The NBA Trade Deadline is just 12 days away.  Rumors have been circulating around several players with the big name being the best center in the NBA, Dwight Howard.  The soon to be Brooklyn Nets are sitting in a tough situation right now.  Their star point guard Deron Williams will be a free agent this summer.  The only way Williams stays as a Net is if GM Billy King can bring in another star such as Howard.  Besides Williams, currently the Nets have one of the worst rosters in the league as their 11-26 record shows.  The Nets have got to be in desperation mode as the trade deadline is under two weeks away.

The Nets have the possibility of losing out on the chance at Williams and Howard if King and company do not become aggressive in the chase for the star center Howard.  The Nets do have a shot this summer as well at Howard as he becomes a free agent, but many teams are going to be in the market for the superstar who is averaging an astounding 20 points and 15 rebounds a game. 

The Nets got their center, Brook Lopez back just in time from injury to audition him for a trade.  The Nets have the pieces to move to get Howard.  The question is if they want to pull the trigger and if the Magic would be willing to deal Howard before free agency.  The trade package would most likely build around Lopez and possibly rookie Marshon Brooks who has had a surprising and overlooked rookie season.  The Nets have one of the better deals that could be put in place for "D12" as Lopez is still young and continuing to get better and Brooks is just a rookie.  

If the Nets want to sell tickets and bring in new fans into their new Brooklyn arena next season, they are going to need to get in the driver's seat and make a push for Howard.  If they can get a deal done before the March 15th deadline, they would sign Howard to an extension and most likely be able to sign Williams to an extension as well.

The Nets could possibly have one of the best point guards and the best center in the same lineup opening up the Barclays Center this fall.  That would not be a bad way to start off the franchise in their new dwellings.  If the Nets cannot trade for Howard in these next 12 days, their last hope would be to sign him as a free agent this summer.  As we all know from the past (cough cough Lebron James), that is not always the best option.