Knicks vs. Heat: Matchups to Watch in Thursday's Must See Tilt

All eyes will be on Miami Thursday night when Linsanity hits South Beach as Jeremy Lin and the New York Knicks invade LeBron James and the Miami Heat.

It's the NBA's best new sensation against the NBA's best team.

While all eyes will certainly be on Lin and James, there's plenty more to this game as each team wants a win in the final game before the weekends All-Star break.

Let's take a look at a few keys to the game.

Jeremy Lin vs. Turnovers

Taking care of the ball is priority No. 1 in this one for Lin and the Knicks.

If he turns it over at the rate he has been and allows the Heat to get out in transition, it will be a very long night for New York.

The Heat are in the middle of the pack in the NBA at forcing turnovers and are towards the bottom of the league in turnover differential, so Lin can't make things easy for them. If the takes care of the ball the Knicks should be fine.

Tyson Chandler vs. the Cheap Foul

Chandler must stay on the floor and must keep his cool. 

He can't pick up a few cheap fouls and spend most of the game in foul trouble as he did against New Jersey.

The heat are the NBA's best team in terms of field goal percentage (.488) and on average shoot the ball 6.5 percent better than the opposition.

The Heat feast on points in the paint, and if Chandler isn't on the floor to defend and rebound, the Knicks could be in trouble.

Carmelo Anthony vs LeBron James

The match up of superstars everyone wants to see.

While James could be the NBA's MVP to this point, Anthony very well could be the most disappointing player of the first half.

That can change Thursday night if Anthony can show he can co-exist with Lin and the rest of the Knicks on the floor.

If the Knicks keep it close and can lean on Anthony in the fourth quarter, this gives him an opportunity to show critics that he can fit in just fine.

Heat Roll Players vs. Knicks Defense

For the Knicks, it's about limiting the damage the rest of the Miami team does.

James and Dwyane Wade are going to get their's, but it's the Miami depth that can give the Knicks problems.

If Mike Miller, Norris Cole, Udonis Haslem, Mario Chalmers and company have big games, Miami wins hands down.

They will surely be getting open looks on the perimeter against the Knicks.

It's all a matter of if they knock down their open looks that will determine their overall performances.

Rebounds

Second shot opportunities could determine the winner.

The Knicks need to keep Haslem, James and Chris Bosh off the glass, especially on the offensive end.

On the other hand, the Heat must do the same against Chandler and Amar'e Stoudemire.

Benches

Finally, the guys that start the game on the bench could ultimately end up deciding it.

Baron Davis has to be better at running the Knicks offense when Lin gets a rest. If the Knicks become strictly a perimeter team when Lin's out of the game, things could quickly get out of hand.

For Miami—Miller, Cole, James Jones and Shane Battier have to knock down the shots given to them, but Steve Novak and J.R. Smith have the ability to keep the Knicks in the game as well while the starters get a rest.

Prediction

Call me crazy but I like the Knicks on the road and for "Linsanity" to continue into the All-Star break.

This game is tight all the way through, but at the end of the day Anthony gets a chance to out-gun James in the fourth quarter and the Knicks come away 107-103 winners.