One plot line from Game 3 has already concluded, Chris Bosh has apparently made it back from Miami where he witnessed his wife give birth to their son who they named Jackson. Perhaps this is the shot of energy Bosh needed to finally become a factor in this series. It may not matter however as the Knicks have looked severely outclassed by the Miami Heat, being blown out by 33 and 10 points in the previous two games.
There are two elements which offer some insight that Game 3 might be a different occasion; the Knicks play at home for the first time in the series and Carmelo Anthony is likely to see extended run at power forward with Amar’e Stoudemire sidelined. No doubt the home crowd will be keen to give their team a jolt of much needed energy, but the more important of those two factoids is about Melo. This year when he’s been let loose at the four, he’s been amazing. Without both Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler blocking up all of his driving lanes, Anthony has been able to isolate on the perimeter and use all the same driving lanes he mastered in Denver. If Denver Melo turns up to game three, and JR Smith and Steve Novak are able to rain in a few threes, New York stands a punchers chance of stealing a game in this series.
That doesn’t take into account the fact that both LeBron James and Dwyane Wade both love playing in the Big Apple and the odds of at least one of them, if not both, showing up in a big way are very high. Miami are heavy favourites to win in New York (New York are paying $3.90 for the win), so the smart money is on New York as they have a chance of stealing this game, although that’s what it will be: Theft. Miami has this series in the bag, regardless of the outcome of today’s game.
