Game Preview: Knicks vs. Heat- 01/27/19

Hello Knick faithful. It’s been a while since... wait no. I tried to wash Friday’s loss off my stinking body but the rats have drowned me in their pizza crusts. It’s been nine games since the last time the Knicks got a win. They now hold court with a very soggy 10-37 record. That makes them squarely the second worst team in the NBA.

The Heat (23-24) are hovering around .500 and doing what they can to figure out where they’re headed. This season has largely been mired by injuries and squired by Dwayne Wade’s jersey convention. Just this one and back to the beach for them.

Projected Starters

Tyler Johnson might miss tonights game like a tooth.

If he is out, it’s possible Rodney McGruder gets slotted into the starters to keep the bench rotation as close to normal as possible.

Key Matchup

Somehow I wouldn’t be surprised if the boring game Trey Burke put together in the sputtering loss to Brooklyn will cement his status as starter for the remainder of the year. He did just enough scoring, and has just enough synergy with Tim Hardaway Jr to make it look right. Well, good luck with Justise Winslow, if that’s the case.i

Now, if Frank Ntilikina is allowed to play for more than two minutes at a time, he might be able to flummox Winslow’s point-power blitzkrieg.

Prediction

Miami is going to be so punishing and relentless. The only real hope is that they play down to the competition, feeling that the Knicks are not a real challenge. New York might be able to hang for a while, but eventually they’ll be worn down by these brutish barbarian beefcakes.

Dwyane Wade + something truly annoying = inevitable.

Knicks by -23.

Warm Up Music

Something tells me the Knicks need to just get loose. If you can’t go to Miami, I say: bring Miami to you.