Is It All Over for Jeremy Lin?

     After all the hype for the Knicks vs. Heat game, New York fans were left with disappointment. Jeremy Lin and the Knicks fell to Lebron James and the Heat by the score of 102-88. The Knicks were able to overcome many challenging teams, such as the Los Angeles Lakers, but they were not able to prove themselves against the Heat. The key to success for Miami was taking away the Knicks current most valuable player, Jeremy Lin.

     The swarming defense of the Heat was able to keep Lin to only 8 steals, 3 assists, and forced him to commit 8 turnovers. Well, those numbers were clearly the opposite of his outstanding average of 23.9 points and 9 assists in his first 11 starts. This was the worst start for the young point guard as a starter for the Knicks. What this game exposed to other teams and curious fans in the NBA, is a way to stop Lin from picking apart opposing defenses. The Heat came out with a smart strategic way to play defense on Lin and the Knicks. Of course, at this point the main threat on the Knicks is Jeremy Lin rather than Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire. The Heat came into the game playing a man to man defense, but Lin was picked up by his defender instantly at half court. This forced instant and constant pressure which he has not experienced in previous games. By picking up Lin at half court it also took away any chance he had of setting up an organized offense. His court vision was interfered with by the superb defense which forced the 8 turnovers by Lin. Most of the defensive credit goes to Heat point guards Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole.

     To all Knicks fans out there, this may be a problem. The Heat discovered how to pressure Lin and force him into poor performance. It is obvious that other teams will want to use the same game-plan the Heat used. Then again, this may have just been an "off game" by Lin, which will show in their next game. There will also need to be more effectiveness from Anthony and Stoudemire to help the team improve. Luckily, the Knicks have a somewhat easy game ahead of them as they prepare to host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday evening.  Let's see if the Knicks can redeem themselves and make their way closer to a playoff spot.