Knicks vs. Heat: Game 5 Highlights, Twitter Reaction and Analysis

The New York Knicks gave their fans some hope for about 12 minutes in Game 5 action of the 2012 NBA playoffs, but the Miami Heat eventually woke up and eliminated New York with a 106-94 victory. 

The Knicks, sparked by Mike Bibby (seriously), came out with a lot of energy in a partially empty American Airlines Arena and jumped out to an early lead. After one quarter, they only trailed 28-24.

In a game where they were supposed to be blown out, it was certainly an encouraging start. 

It was all for naught, though, as the Heat jumped out to an 11-point halftime lead and further increased that margin for a convincing victory.

All in all, it was an ugly game on both sides. Let's take a closer look.

Video Highlights

Amar'e Stoudemire was fairly pathetic for most of this game, but you only need one hand to dunk, and dunk he did.

In the second quarter, Stat drove the baseline and put down a ferocious dunk that likely has Joel Anthony crying softly to himself right about now:

Yikes.

Not to be out-done (all right, this actually happened earlier; oh well), LeBron James taught us all how to effectively use the triple-threat position.

With the ball on his hip, King James drove past some uninspired defense from J.R. Smith and slammed it home hard with one hand. Take a look:

Twitter Reaction

As I mentioned earlier, American Airlines Arena was less than packed at the beginning of the game. The white shirts on the empty seats, however, created an illusion of a packed arena. Sports Illustrated's Zach Lowe takes it one step further:

"

TNT should do a joke interview with some of the white T-shirts in the lower level. "Enjoying the game so far?" [Silence]. "Long-time fan?"

— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_SI) May 9, 2012"

Hey, who says ESPN's Twitter account can't be funny? When Bibby had eight points after the first quarter (he finished with, well, 10), ESPN had this zinger, whether it was intentionally funny or not:

"

If you predicted that Mike Bibby would be leading all scorers after the first, you were correct -> es.pn/JgIahK

— ESPN (@espn) May 9, 2012"

Yeah, so Amar'e wasn't too good this Game 5. Maybe it was the fact he only has one hand, I don't know. MSG Network's Alan Hahn gave us a stat to back up that notion:

"

Amare has played over 15 minutes and has a total of 0 rebounds.

— Alan Hahn (@alanhahn) May 9, 2012"

Stat finished with four rebounds. Yuck.

Our next tweet comes from The Basketball Post's Rafael Uehara. And Rafael couldn't be more right on everything he says here:

"

Actual good point by Reggie. This has all the looks of a regular-season game for Miami. Cruising but not furiously going all in, meh crowd.

— Rafael Uehara (@rafael_uehara) May 10, 2012"

Finally, SI's Zach Lowe gives a solid look forward to Miami and Indiana:

"

In 4 games vs Indy, Heat went small, with LBJ or another wing at the 4, for 20:47 and was +21 in that time. A big wild card in this series.

— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_SI) May 10, 2012"

Grades for Key Knicks Players

Carmelo Anthony: B+

Listen, I realize he scored 35 points on 31 shots, and that is far from efficient, but what else is this guy supposed to do?

He's playing with no type of playmaking point guard whatsoever; J.R Smith, who has the constant green light no matter who tells him otherwise; and Amar'e Stoudemire, who has a hole in his hand.

If Anthony tried to distribute the ball, things probably would have gone a lot worse. I could have seen him taking about five fewer shots and giving those to Stoudemire, but that's just nit-picking at this point.

Carmelo is going to get absolutely ripped for this game, but he was really the only one (throw in Bibby and Landry Fields) who seemingly wanted to keep the series going. I saw effort from Anthony in an impossible situation.

Amar'e Stoudemire: D

Ugh.

I know Stoudemire only has one good hand (which was his fault), but he put up 20 and 10 in Game 4. He certainly could have done better than what he did at Miami.

And what he did was 14 points, four rebounds and five turnovers.

He disappeared on offense for the majority of the time and seemed afraid to hit the glass (zing!). When he finally grabbed his only offensive board of the night, he rolled the ball down the middle of the lane to no one for a turnover.

Oh, and he fouled out. 

Grades for Key Heat Players

LeBron James: A

Not really sure what else he could have done. He scored 29 points on 7-of-16 shooting, he got to the line and he was the reason Miami got in transition as much as it did.

He rebounded well (seven rebounds) and distributed to a number of different players (seven assists). 

The only real blemish was the four turnovers, but that didn't really matter. He did everything he needed to do. 

Dwyane Wade: A-

Wade didn't shoot the ball, and he didn't make up for it at the line as much as LeBron did. That's really the only bad thing I can say about Wade's performance.

He still finished with 19 points, four rebounds and three assists.

Like always, he was a stud on the defensive end, too, picking up two steals and two blocks. 

Deciding Factor: Offensive Rebounds/Intensity

At the end of the day, Miami had 13 offensive rebounds to New York's 11, so it doesn't seem like such an advantage. However, at one point in the third quarter, those numbers were 11 to one. Lots of New York's boards came when the game was out of hand.

What contributed to Miami's domination on the offensive glass was a lack of intensity from New York.

I'm not sure where Tyson Chandler's head was in this one, and we've already discussed Stoudemire's terrible game.

Miami really didn't come out with a ton of energy, and didn't even look very good. But most of Mike Woodson's squad was lifeless and just in a haze.

They simply didn't take advantage.

Game MVP: LeBron James

What else can be said that hasn't been said already?

James filled up the entire stat sheet and controlled Miami's offense and pace. He played the role of point-forward absolutely perfectly.

Watch out, league. 

What’s Next: Indiana Pacers

The Heat move on to the second round to take on the No. 3 Indiana Pacers. It won't be the most hyped series ever, but Indiana is incredibly deep and has the athletes to run with Miami.

It will be an absolutely thrilling series, and Miami better not overlook the Pacers.