Miami edges New York with execution; can the Knicks sustain going one-on-one?

It was a battle of very successful, very flawed approaches, when you think about it.

The Miami Heat edged the New York Knicks with a closing round flurry Sunday, 93-85. The Heat looked like the much better team in the first and fourth quarters, New York the more complete and hungrier squad in the 2nd and 3rd. What we learned inside those two subsets revealed a pair of elements about both teams.

• Both the Heat and the Knicks are extremely talented and when they are doing what they do best, can simply overwhelm the other team with talent.
• Both the Heat and the Knicks suffer from a lack of cohesive effort. Mentally for the Heat, and approach for the Knicks.

The Heat had the same issues they’ve had for the past two years. After transforming into a flying death machine for the first quarter, getting out and running and creating havoc with superior physical ability, once the Knicks adjusted and started forcing containment, the Heat ran into complex coverage and started forcing it. You know the drill. Turnovers, off-balance jumpers, trying to out-talent the opponent with tough shots instead of using their talent to create easy ones.

So how did Miami win? Because New York’s approach is valiant, and impressive, and not at all sustainable. The Knicks relied on isolation plays from Carmelo Anthony consistently, and after 43 minutes, and when faced with varying coverages from Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, Anthony simply couldn’t seal the deal. Working your tail off on defense is what puts the Knicks in position to win, and great players hitting big shots is an indelible part of the NBA. But relying on it so much for 48 minutes is just not a sustainable approach. Synergy Sports indicates that Anthony went ISO 19 times against Miami. The Heat by comparison as a team went ISO 23 times, including 14 for LeBron James. That’s a lot of one-on-one play.

And in the end, the Heat made the plays. They shut down Anthony, who only had two field goals in the fourth. James and Wade each had two in the final five minutes. Combine that with some questionable decision making, and the Heat were able to finish off the Knicks.

Now, Anthony carried them with that same play for much of the game. Anthony was a monster, and it’s amazingly impressive that he can produce at that level given how hard it is to go one-on-five. But it’s not sustainable. There’s definitely a time and place for giving Anthony, arguably the best one-on-one player in the league right now, the ball and letting him do work. But after that many minutes and that many shots, defended by two of the best players in the league, it just didn’t work out.

The Knicks may have proved Sunday they can hang with Miami, scare them, force the issue, especially if Jeremy Lin and Amar’e Stoudemire return. But can they win? Maybe some. But overall?

The war looks a lot different than the individual battles. For the Heat, they get a road win against a playoff opponent who plays tough defense, by getting clutch scoring from their two stars. Both teams did what they do, and though from here it doesn’t look good enough to win a title, for the Heat it’s a good sign. For the Knicks, it’ll be a coin flip as long as this is their approach.