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Knicks-Heat Game 2 Preview Playoff intensity as it should be on display in Miami
Posted: Tuesday May 09, 2000 04:41 PM
This game promises to be so intense that perhaps a disclaimer will be needed along the lines of those Hollywood gems that warn "no one will be allowed admittance after the first three minutes." Well maybe not that intense, but you might want to either bring a mouthpiece, or install an air bag in the recliner, even if you're watching the game from the comfort of your living room. The Knicks' Chris Childs says Game 1 was very unlike the Knicks -- too many layups for the home team with little resistance from the New York side. Translation: bodies will fly tonight. A New York-Miami series is what playoff basketball is all about -- emotion, playing with injuries that might have you sitting during the regular season and a history between the two teams. This is the fourth straight year that these teams have met in the postseason, and the previous three have all gone the distance. Miami took a best of seven in '97, the Knicks the last two best of five's, and you basically have the same cast of characters involved. Ewing and Mourning, PJ Brown, Charlie Ward, Allan Houston, Tim Hardaway, Pat Riley, Jeff Van Gundy and Zo's leg. Every possession is contested as if it's the last of the series, and that's why scores in the 80's are commonplace and so are tempers on the edge. Credit Miami for doing a defensive number on the Knicks over the last 5:30 of Game 1, in which New York managed two free throws. Alonzo Mourning came up with the huge back-breaking jumper in the closing seconds. Yeah, this is playoff basketball, and if it doesn't go the full seven games, I'll feel stunned, and cheated.
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