The New York Knicks lost to the Miami Heat on Wednesday night, but failed to gain any ground in lottery positioning.
The New York Knicks lost an ugly one to the Miami Heat following two straight wins on Monday and Saturday. Despite a positive first quarter in which the Knicks hung tough, they would get outscored by 16 in the second quarter and could never recover.
Enes Kanter and Michael Beasley had 23 and 22 points respectively and combined to shoot 18-for-28 from the floor. Despite their efficiency on the offensive end, the Knicks had no answer for Miami on defense.
Kelly Olynyk went off for 22 points, 10 assists, and five rebounds off the bench. The Knicks had no answer for the Gonzaga product. Olynyk led a Miami Heat bench that outscored the Knicks bench 62-28. Usually following a loss, Knicks fans look to see if they gained ground on anyone for lottery positioning. Last night had no silver lining.
Bulls and Nets Fall
The Chicago Bulls are eighth in lottery positioning and the Brooklyn Nets (whose pick is controlled by Cleveland) are seventh. Knicks fans are keeping an eye on these two teams as they look to out-tank them and increase their chances of securing a top draft pick.
Chicago was utterly dominated by the playoff-hopeful Denver Nuggets last night. The Nuggets put up 135 against Chicago, who only managed to score a relatively paltry 102. It’s clear that Chicago wants no part of any wins down the stretch and they are all in on tanking.
But the Nets have no incentive to lose. Their pick is in the hands of the Cavaliers and they stand to gain nothing from tanking. Unfortunately, this doesn’t translate to wins. Last night Dwight Howard made history by notching a 30 point, 30 rebound game for the fifth time since 1979.
To make matters worse for Nets (and Knicks) fans, Brooklyn blew a 23-point lead that took the air out of both fanbases.
