New York Knicks @ Miami Heat NBA Sunday Basketball Pick

New York Knicks @ Miami Heat NBA Sunday Basketball Pick: If the Knicks and Heat didn’t do it for you pre-trading deadline, it certainly has a great ring to it now that Carmelo is suiting up for his home team. We’ll see how well that trade can work out almost immediately, and that’s a good thing. The Heat will certainly take advantage of the Knicks inability to play any sort of defense whatsoever, but I don’t know if the Heat will have an answer for Amare in the post. LeBron has guarded ‘Melo well at times in the past, but could a new uniform change a battle that has been dominated by LBJ? Stay tuned.

The Knicks played decent in their first game with Anthony and Billups, a win against Milwaukee, but a tough loss to lowly Cleveland brought some of the doubters back, and for good reason – when you lose to Cleveland, there are some glaring problems. But remember, it’s an 82 game season, and the Lakers also lost to Cleveland a while back, and “new players in new places” wasn’t an excuse for that reigning NBA Champ.

Miami won the first two meetings between these Eastern conference foes, dominating game 1 in a 22-point piecing, winning by 8 in game 2. But Game 3 saw New York play a tougher brand of basketball, limit the Heat’s fast break points, and win by 5 in Miami. In that win, Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler and Gallinari (the guys Melo was traded for) shot just 9 of 35 from the floor – something I’m sure Chauncey and Carmelo can improve upon. LeBron had a tough night from the floor, shooting just 7 for 24 from the field. But these Knicks are a different team, maybe better, maybe not – but they are different.

When the Heat score 100 points or more, they almost always win – and I’d be stunned if the Knicks porous defense holds the Heat under 100 again. Still, the Heat rarely blow teams out, and a big lead never seems quite safe enough. With a couple chuckers playing for New York, I see the Knicks keeping this one fairly close – and with the spread all the way up to 9, I’ll take the Knicks to cover.

New York Knicks (+9) @ Miami Heat (ESPN) (2/27)