Miami Heat streak against New York ends

The Miami Heat suffered their first loss to the New York Knicks in six years. LeBron James did not dominate like he has been known to do in Madison Square Garden. James went 7-24 from the field and finished the game with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Luckily for the Heat, Dwyane Wade picked up the slack and tried his best to make up the difference. Wade went 14-22 for 34 points to go with his 16 rebounds and five assists. Mike Miller, who was coming off his best game of the season, was unable to put any points on the board, shooting 0-3 from the field. James Jones ended up being the only Miami player besides James and Wade to score in double figures.

The Knicks had offensive problems of their own with a team field goal percentage of 36.1 percent. The best player for the Knicks was Amar'e Stoudemire, who was able to shoot the ball well in the absence of Miami's Chris Bosh (ankle). Stoudemire went 10-17 and finished the game with 24 points.
The main difference for the New York Knicks was their ability to shoot the ball well from the free throw line. The Knicks finished the game shooting 82.1 percent from the free throw line, compared to Miami's 69.7 percent.

Up until the end of the third quarter, the Heat looked like they were on their way to another win against the Knicks. Unfortunately, the Heat struggled offensively in the fourth quarter and the Knicks were able to get back into the game. In the final 2 minutes of the game, the Knicks were able to answer LeBron James's attempts to steal the game with big three pointers from Danilo Gallinari and Landry Fields.

Not to make any excuses for the Heat, but Chris Bosh was surely missed during the Jan 27 game, as Miami struggled to contain Stoudemire in the paint. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade (still suffering from migraines) carried the team on their backs, and they still managed to put up a strong performance against a New York team that is playing their best basketball in years.

David is a fan that has followed the Miami Heat for the past 15 years.
 
Sources:
Associated Press, " Amare Stoudemire keeps Knicks close before... "
All stats and data from espn.com