LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade welcome Carmelo Anthony, Jeremy Lin, and Amare Stoudamire as one big three greets another tonight. The whole sports world is waiting to see if Lin can carry the Knicks against the class of the NBA. Miami has won seven straight by double digits, while New York has taken nine of 11 since Lin joined the starting lineup.
Common Thread:
Heat backup center Eddy Curry played 222 games over five seasons with the Knicks, averaging 15 points and six rebounds in 29 minutes per game.
New York backup point guard Mike Bibby played 22 games for the Heat last season, averaging seven points, two rebounds and three assists, per night, as well as a 45.5% 3-point average.
Team Milestones:
Heat:
Joel Anthony will play in his 278th Heat game tonight, moving him into a tie for 14th all-time with Dan Majerle.
11 more field goals will move LeBron James into 14th all-time, passing Steve Smith with 1,088. 14 more free throws will move him past Steve Smith, into 11th with 736. 10 more assists will move him past Brian Shaw into 13th, with 782.
James Jones needs one more three pointer to move past James Posey into 13th all-time, with 215.
Chris Bosh needs 15 more free throws to pass Jamal Mashburn into 17th on the all-time list with 534.
Knicks:
With four 3-pointers, Toney Douglas moves past Wilson Chandler into 15th all-time with 239.
Amare Stoudamire sits in 17th all-time with 171 steals. Three steals will move him past Phil Jackson and Joe Meriweather.
Team Leaders:
Heat:
PPG:
LeBron James – 27.6
Dwyane Wade – 22.4
Chris Bosh – 18.2
RPG:
Chris Bosh – 8.3
LeBron James, Udonis Haslem – 8.1
APG:
LeBron James – 6.8
Dwyane Wade – 4.8
Mario Chalmers – 3.6
SPG:
LeBron James, Dwyane Wade – 1.7
Mario Chalmers – 1.3
BPG:
Dwyane Wade – 1.5
Joel Anthony – 1.1
Chris Bosh – 0.8
Knicks:
PPG:
Carmelo Anthony – 21.5
Amare Stoudamire – 17.6
Jeremy Lin – 14.8
RPG:
Tyson Chandler – 6.3
Amare Stoudamire – 5.6
Carmelo Anthony – 4.4
APG:
Jeremy Lin – 5.9
Carmelo Anthony – 4.2
Iman Shumpert – 3.2
SPG:
Iman Shumpert – 2.0
Jeremy Lin – 1.5
Landry Fields – 1.4
BPG:
Tyson Chandler – 1.4
Amare Stoudamire, Jared Jeffries – 0.8