New York Knicks registered a comprehensive 104-84 victory over the Miami Heat in a storm-delayed opener Friday at Madison Square Garden.
Carmelo Anthony was the star for the Knicks scoring 30 points and 10 rebounds. "Over the last couple of days, we didn't even know if this game was going to be played," Anthony said. "Then before the game we look up and they say they cancelled the Marathon, so it was like, we have to go out there and play.
"So today was something to give New York a couple hours of some peace. Come to the game, support us. We gave them a good show out there tonight, that's the least that we can do."
The Knicks played well on Friday against a formidable Heat. They dominated the defending champions for large parts of the game. Miami had defeated New York in five games in the first round of the playoffs.
Not many spectators were expected at the stadium following the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy and the seats were empty when Anthony came out for a warm up; however, most seats had been taken by the time the players arrived for the opening tip.
Knicks guard Raymond Felton said: "I think this win meant a lot for us, for the city, fans, you know, just everybody in New York. This was a big win, so I'm happy we got it."
Steve Novak contributed with 17 points while Felton had 14 points and 9 assists.
LeBron James scored with 23 points for Miami while Dwyane Wade had 15 points. Chris Bosh, the power forward,finished with a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds.
James and Wade had earlier said the game should not have been played in the wake of the recent devastation caused by the hurricane.
James said prior to the game: "I mean sports does allow people for a few hours here to get away from situations that may not be so bright at the time, and this may be one of those instances where we can provide that for a lot of families that's here.
"They'll just kind of get their mind off the devastation that has hit this area this past week.
"I think we're all in agreement when we say that getting everything situated and getting everything back running from the hurricane is more important than a basketball game.
"But there's also people who believe that we need this basketball game for a lot of spirits and a lot of families, so I'm kind of 50-50 with it as well."
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra seemed pretty impressed with the way the Knicks played. They looked like a different team and more organized. "Right from the get-go you could tell there was a difference in energy, disposition, and quickness to the ball (on) both ends of the court. They played a very good basketball game.
"Got us on our heels pretty much the whole game and we weren't able to recover from there. We have to move on. We're clearly much better than this."
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