This Christmas Day NBA event will open up at noon in Madison Square Garden, when the Miami Heat, third place in the Southeast Division with a 13-12 record, visit New York City to take on the hosting Knicks, who will try to improve their bad 11-17 record and pursue a win to avoid slipping away from the higher teams and the playoff spots (although the playoffs are still far, far away).
December has been a month full of ups and downs for Miami, as they have had some great matches along with some really bad ones. On the 4th they were mere seconds away of taking a fantastic victory at Staples Center, but fell victim to Kobe Bryant’s impossible shots and lost 107-108 in the final second. But they lost by big margins against Dallas (106-93), Denver (114-96) and Memphis (118-90).
As expected, Miami’s biggest man so far has been Dwyane Wade, who averages 26.6 points per game, along with 5 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. Michael Beasley adds 15.9 PPG and 7.0 RPG, while newly-acquired (and one of the players with the highest salary in the NBA) Jermaine O’Neal contributes with 13.6 PPG. Udonis Haslem is the fourth and final Heat player to have a double-digit in his average, with 10.4 points per game.
The Knicks are right now third in the Atlantic Division, already eleven and a half games behind the powerful Celtics. Although they hold a negative record, they actually have been improving. From being a 4-15 on December 2nd, they have since won 7 games and lost only 2, including the last three in a row against the Clippers, Charlotte and Chicago.
New York’s finest have been Al Harrington (with 18.9 PPG and 6.2 RPG) and David Lee, the only Knick to average a double-double, with 18.0 points anD 10.6 rebounds per game. Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and Larry Hughes help the New York cause with respective averages of 13.9, 13.7 and 12.0 points per game.
The opening game on Christmas Day may not be between two topnotch teams, but will still be an interesting as both squads are very similar in many ways, statistically speaking, and also bring to the court some pretty good players, like Wade for the Heat and David Lee on the home side. This opposing duet may give us a good matchup that, at the end, if everything turns out as it should, should go in favor of Miami.
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