Knicks vs Heat: New York Must Play Carmelo's Game to Beat Miami

When the Knicks travel to Miami to take on the Heat on Friday, they have only one chance at winning. 

They must slow the game down, running their offense through Carmelo Anthony. If the Knicks get into the Mike D'Antoni, Amar'e Stoudemire game of running the floor, the Heat will get too many possessions, their stars will get too many shots and the game won't be close. 

Getting the ball into Carmelo's hands will not only help minimize what Miami can do, but it will also mean New York is running the offense through its best overall offensive player and leading scorer. Generally speaking, that is a pretty good key to success in any game, but especially when you're playing the Eastern Conference's best team. 

Ultimately, this comes down to Miami, and keeping the ball out of their hands. A fastbreak offense will result in plenty of Knicks points, but that's only half of the battle.

On the Heat you have LeBron James averaging better than 29 points a game, Chris Bosh averaging nearly 22 and possibly a returning Dwyane Wade and is 19.6 points a night. Going with D'Antoni's classic "seven seconds or less" model will give the Heat the ball far too often. Especially at home, they will establish offensive supremacy, which will eventually overwhelm the Knicks. 

As important as it is to minimize Miami's possessions, the Knicks also must depend on Anthony for offense.

The only way for an team like the Knicks to win on the road against a team like Miami is to let their best player go crazy. We know that Carmelo can score. After all, he's averaging 23.6 points a game, nearly six points better than Stoudemire's average. 

If they rely on Amar'e, they will need not only him, but also the guards to run the floor and get him the ball in motion. That is going to bring the rest of the team into the game too much. That is an obvious advantage to the Heat. 

With Carmelo, New York can turn the game into more of an isolated affair, minimizing the overall advantage that Miami clearly has (even without Wade).

Running seven seconds or less will be a lot of fun to watch, but it won't give the Knicks even a small chance to win. The Knicks' only chance is to slow the game down and run through their best player. That means we should see a heavy dose of Carmelo.

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