Monday, February 28, 2011

Help possibly on the way for Miami


photo by Getty Images

If there was something made obvious in the Miami Heat's loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday, it was that LeBron James and co. lack a playmaking point guard. While Chauncey Billups was busy finding his teammates for easy shots and hitting long-range three-pointers, Mario Chalmers was missing layups.

That lack of a point guard able to help the Big Three in the waning moments of games may be over as the Heat are close to acquiring Mike Bibby, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

Bibby, who was traded from the Atlanta Hawks to the Washington Wizards last week, is leaning towards joining Miami after agreeing to a buyout with Washington on Monday. He gave up his $6.2 million salary with the hopes of latching on to a contender.

Bibby would be an upgrade over Chalmers and never-seeing-the-court Carlos Arroyo. Although the addition of Bibby won't solve Miami's lack of defense from the point guard position, he would add a much-needed offensive orchestrator to Miami's lineup, one that can help create shots while also making his share of them. Yes, that includes layups.

Heat fall to new-look Knicks, 91-86



photo by Getty Images

Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks, 1. Miami Heat, 0.

The Heat lost at home to the new-look Knicks on Sunday, 91-86, in a game that once again will raise questions about Miami's ability to beat the more talented teams.

Dwyane Wade scored just 12 points, Chris Bosh faded as the game wore on and LeBron James missed a pair of potentially game-altering shots with seconds remaining in the game. Making all those type of performances worse was that the loss came to a New York team still figuring out how to play together after the big Carmelo Anthony trade reshaped the Knicks' roster.

Anthony scored 29 points in the game and Chauncey Billups and Amar'e Stoudemire added 16 a piece. Perhaps no points were bigger than when Billups scored off a long three to give New York the lead with less than two minutes remaining in the game.

That shot put Miami in a hole, and one it could not crawl out of. James tried to hit a layup, but was brilliantly blocked by Stoudemire. On the following possession, James bricked off a three-point attempt, essentially ending the first meeting between the Heat and the new-look Knicks.