Miami Heat Embarrass Jeremy Lin, Prove Knicks Aren't Even in Their Same Class

The Miami Heat have proved throughout the course of the first half of the 2012 season that not many teams are in their class.

After Thursday night's performance, the New York Knicks certainly aren't one of them; at least not yet.

The Heat made a statement by being the first team to embarrass Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin in a 102-88 Miami victory.

What they did to Lin also made a statement. They limited the NBA's newest sensation to only eight points (on 1-for-11 shooting), three assists and a whopping eight turnovers.

Lin was awful, but maybe that will serve as a positive down the road for the Knicks.

It's unthinkable to think that Lin would experience nothing but success so early in his career, and the Heat forced him to play his worst game. It can serve as a reminder that there's still work for Lin and the Knicks to do and they must continue to improve as a team.

But Thursday night wasn't all about the Knicks' failures.

It was about Miami's dominance.

The Heat shot nearly 50 percent from the floor (42-of-85) and the Big Three of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade all went over the 20-point mark for the first time in a game this season.

If the Heat perform like that on the offensive end, there aren't many teams in their class.

Defensively, though, is where they answered the challenge.

The Knicks shot only 39 percent for the night and they forced 19 New York turnovers. Much was made of the fact that James would guard Lin at times, but the Heat didn't need him to.

If Miami brings it like that on the defensive end consistently, look out NBA.

As for the Knicks, they simply aren't in Miami's class right now.

That doesn't mean they won't be when the playoffs roll around though. There's simply too many new parts trying to figure each other out.

But for those thinking the Knicks are championship contenders right now, Miami's dominance served as a wake-up call.

The Knicks have a lot of work to do before they have any thoughts of beating Miami in a playoff series.

The two teams are simply in different classes.