LINsanity continues on Thursday night as the New York Knicks travel to take on the Miami Heat in NBA action. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on TNT. Currently the odds have the Miami Heat favored by 9.5 points with the total sitting at 202 points as oddsmakers expect the Heat to win as both teams score a lot of points.
Free Analysis: It's the last day before the All-Star break and the New York Knicks and Miami Heat may be delivering the marquee matchup of the season so far. In what will be the toughest test yet for the phenomenon that is Jeremy Lin and the rest of the .500 playing Knicks, they'll try to prove their worthy of all the hype they're getting as they face LeBron James, Dwyane Wadeand the Eastern Conference-leading Heat on Thursday night. New York (17-17) has seen its season revived behind Lin, who is averaging 23.9 points and 9.2 assists in helping the Knicks win nine of 11 games while gaining global notoriety. The hype is a little premature as the Knicks have played eight of those 11 games against teams that have sub-.500 records on the season. The Knicks themselves will be a sub-.500 club if they lose tonight. However, they are 3-0 against teams with winning records following Wednesday's 99-82 victory over Atlanta, during which they led by as many 30 points. The Heat will obviously be there biggest threat to the season as they're sporting a 26-7 record and look to be one of the best teams in the league. "It's going to be a high-energy game," Wade said. "The crowd is going to be into it. Fans around the world are going to watch the game, obviously, for many different reasons, so it'll be great." Miami is now going to be given a chance to prove that the Linsanity led Knicks are just pretenders. While Lin's emergence has captivated the league, James and Wade are averaging 27.6 and 22.4 points, respectively, on the season. The best duo in the league combined for a 59 points in a 99-89 win over the Knicks in Miami on Jan. 27, which happened before the entire Lin phenomena. Wade is averaging 24.1 points while the Heat have gone 13-2 since that win over New York, proving they probably are the best team in the NBA. Lin and the Knicks know the game with the Heat is going to be a big one. "We're playing a great team, and it's going to be a good evaluation of where we're at," said Lin, who had 17 points and nine assists on Wednesday. "So from that end obviously we're excited and ready for the challenge. But besides that, we're just going try to stay consistent." Staying consistent might not be enough to hang with the Heat, unless they are able to do so at a high level. Carmelo Anthony could help and he's going to have to provide a big game for the Knicks tonight. He missed last month's meeting with the Heat due to wrist and ankle ailments, but he's averaged 26.0 points in 15 career games against them.
Free Pick: The Heat are favored by nearly 10 points for a reason in this contest. Sure, Lin and the Knicks have been the talk of the NBA the last few weeks and he has provided a spark for New Yorkers, but I still think they're a bit overrated. They have some of the best talent in the league in Anthony, Stoudamire and Chandler and yet they struggle on a consistent basis. I think the big-time atmosphere tonight with the two clubs benefits the Heat as they have several players that are used to playing in these types of environments. Give me the Heat to win this game by double digits as the Knicks are going to struggle on the road.
Free Picks: Knicks at Heat Betting
Can LINsanity continue vs Heat and Heat are playing best basketball of the season plus other factors NBA bettors need to know about Knicks at Heat (Thursday, February 23, 2012) from Pregame.com - Including predictions from and Scott Spreitzer analysis from host Marco D'Angelo.