The Miami Heat and the New York Knicks have had drastically different seasons heading into the 2014 schedule and now the teams will face off on Thursday night from Madison Square Garden in the first game of a doubleheader and comes before the Heat play the Nets on Friday and the game on Turner Network Television will begin at 8 pm for LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony.
Miami comes into the game after a nice win at home against the New Orleans Pelicans and now the team is going on a three game stretch in four nights and while that will be tiring, James always shows up for his games at MSG and it could be a nice battle between him and Melo. The Knicks have been terrible this season, but they are playing a bit better as of late and they are coming into the game after a win as well and Miami next will play against the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night at the Barclays Center and that game has the nickname jerseys for players, including J. Shuttlesworth for Ray Allen.
The Heat have been playing great defense this season and they rank in the top 10 in points allowed and are fifth in scoring with over 105 points per game and they have been doing an excellent job of distributing the ball as well, ranking fifth in assists this season. James is once again doing it all for the Heat this season, leading the team in scoring rebounds and assists with 25 points, six rebounds and six assists per game and while the Pacers are still first in the eastern conference, Miami is right behind by just one game and they are closing quick. Last season the Heat gained the number one seed and they needed it, as the Pacers took the eastern conference finals to seven games.
Check here for the Miami and New York live coverage from MSG on Thursday.
The Knicks come into the game off of a win against the Detroit Pistons that saw 34 points from Carmelo Anthony and now the team has the chance to get a very nice win against Miami before playing against the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday on the road for three games in five days. Tyson Chandler is a but banged up and the team has had issues with JR Smith, but they have the chance to turn things around this month and while they have played poorly up to this point, so has the rest of the east and now they have the chance to start winning more games.
Chandler and Kenyon Martin may miss the game on Thursday and the Knicks will be shorthanded with Metta World Peace out and that could make the team have to rely on JR Smith more. Anthony will have to take the lead on Friday and he is coming in after hitting six threes in the game against the Pistons and he looks to be back to full strength after having a sprained ankle that kept him out for a few games.