By CHRIS PERKINS
FOXSportsFlorida.com Heat Writer
Feb. 27, 2011
What you saw Sunday when the Heat hosted the New York Knicks could be a preview of a first-round playoff matchup. The two most likely scenarios are a 3 vs. 6 matchup (the Heat being the No. 3 seed and the Knicks being the No. 6) or a 2 vs. 7.
That means you could get large dose of Miami's Mario Chalmers vs. New York's Chauncey Billups in a point guard battle. And right now it's debatable whether that's a good thing or bad thing for the Heat.
"People forget about him," LeBron James said about Billups. "As players we never do."
Look at the Chalmers-Billups battle in Sunday's 91-86 loss to the New York Knicks at AmericanAirlines Arena. Chalmers finished with seven points and no assists. Billups finished with 16 points, four rebounds and two assists, and, true to Mr. Big Shot form, hit a key three-pointer in the final minute to give New York a 85-84 lead.
"It's a shot I like to shoot," said Billups, who also had a key steal after hitting that three.
Billups laid low through three quarters, biding his time, running the offense. Then he stepped up in the fourth quarter.
"He's big for them because he gives them experience at the point guard position," Heat forward Chris Bosh said. "That's the most important position on the floor."
Chalmers didn't play the fourth quarter. Instead, swingman Mike Miller and guard Eddie House got those minutes.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was asked before Sunday's game what he wanted to see from Chalmers.
"Activity with discipline is what I want," he said.
That's what Chalmers had been providing in the games since the All-Star break ended.
"About the last two or three weeks he's been giving us productive basketball," coach Spoelstra said.
In the four or five games prior to Sunday, Chalmers had been hitting the open shot, turning the corner and attacking the rim on the pick-and-roll play, and, for the most part, he kept opposing point guards in front of him. It's a departure from what we've seen from Chalmers earlier in the season.
But Chalmers reverted back to early-season form Sunday. He was 2-for-7 from the field and missed a few wide open shots. He got a layup swatted into the fourth row by Carmelo Anthony in the third quarter, and later he missed a fastbreak layup. Neither is good. And, yeah, overall Chalmers is struggling this season.
But maybe, just maybe, in the big picture he's turning a bit of a corner and settling in right now. Perhaps Sunday was the post-All-Star break exception. Chalmers has said his ankle (the one he injured in the summer and kept bothering him though January) finally feels good.
And Spoelstra said Chalmers is playing defense with his feet first and not hands first. That means Chalmers is putting his body in position to make plays and he's not just reaching for steals.
Chalmers flashes the ability to play well in stretches. It's just that you'd like to see those stretches last months instead of days.
--It's not often an event in the second quarter leads to victory, but New York's 16-0 run to close out the half and take that 52-51 lead was meaningful. The crowd, which was abut 40 percent Knicks fans, went wild when Walker hit that falling-down three-pointer just before the buzzer.
--Great atmosphere Sunday, the best of the year. It was better than the home-opener against Orlando and the game against Boston. Knicks fans had a lot to do with it, but there was a great energy.
--Does anyone think Dwyane Wade (12 points) should have gotten a look on one of those final two shots missed by LeBron James? I'm OK with the shot selection and the shooter. James (27 points on 10-for-20 shooting) got a layup blocked by Amare Stoudemire and then missed an open three-pointer. Wade was just 5-for-15 from the field.
