Miami Heat contains Jeremy Lin, defeats New York Knicks

For the first time since his meteoric rise to stardom, the Knicks’ hyped Jeremy Lin looked like a basketball player from Harvard.

Of course, that shouldn’t take anything away from his amazing story. The Heat simply is shutting everything down these days — even feel-good, made-for-Disney stories like Lin’s. Never mind the opponent, the enormity of the game, the schedule or whatever, the Heat is crashing through the regular season at its halfway point, and Thursday night at AmericanAirlines Arena was just more of the same.

The Heat’s most anticipated game of the season had the atmosphere of the postseason but, in the end, Miami celebrated another lopsided victory, defeating the rival New York Knicks 102-88. The Heat’s Big 3 combined for 67 points.

Miami (27-7) has now won eight consecutive games by double digits and heads into the All-Star break with the best record in the NBA.

As for Lin, he was baptized by fire in the ways of the Heat’s defense. Linsanity was stuffed into a straight jacket, and Lin had just as many turnovers as points — eight. He was held to 1-of-11 shooting from the field.

“It’s hard to be Peter Pan every day,” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He just had an off day.”

Said Lin: “They did a great job of making me uncomfortable.”

D’Antoni described the Heat’s speed on defense as a shock to the system for Lin and the Knicks (17-18), who are still trying to gel as a team after the return of Carmelo Anthony and the additions of Baron Davis, J.R. Smith and, of course, Lin. The Heat outscored the Knicks by 19 points when Lin was in the game.

“They’re some of the best pick-and-roll defenders,” D’Antoni said. “The first time you see it, the speed is overwhelming.”

Indeed, the Heat forced 15 turnovers in the first half. Lin and Amare Stoudemire had six each, the most for any Heat opponents in a half this season. The Heat forced 19 turnovers overall with 12 steals and 10 blocks. LeBron James had five steals — a season high — to go along with 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

Then there was Joel Anthony, the Heat’s no-name center, who had one of his best games of the season despite not scoring. He had five blocks, tying a season high set in the last victory against the Knicks, and was instrumental in helping shut down the Knicks’ pick-and-roll game.

“Joel Anthony is one of the cornerstones of what we do,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Chris Bosh led the Heat with 25 points, shooting 11 of 17 from the field to go along with eight rebounds. Bosh’s feather-light jumper with 8:41 left in the game put the Heat up by 10 points.

Dwyane Wade finished with 22 points, making 10 of 22 field-goal attempts. He had five assists to go with five rebounds. Wade, James, Bosh, Mario Chalmers and James Jones flew to Orlando after the game for All-Star Weekend. Chalmers and Jones will be competing in the three-point contest Saturday night.

The Knicks cut the Heat’s lead to two points near the beginning of the second half, but a flurry of defensive plays by the Heat blew the game open. Wade dispossessed Landry Fields for an easy breakaway dunk, and Anthony blocked Tyson Chandler on the next play, which led to another Wade basket.

Anthony was just getting started.

He stuffed Lin from close range with 3:06 left in the third quarter, and Shane Battier turned it into a three-pointer at the other end. Anthony then absorbed an offensive foul by Carmelo Anthony on the next possession, and the sold-out arena offered a deafening standing ovation.

Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 19 points on 7-of-20 shooting. Smith had 14 points off the bench. The Knicks shot just 39.2 percent from the field.

The Heat imposed its will early, using a furious defensive start to build a 24-20 lead after the first quarter. Guards Chalmers and Norris Cole played the first half as if the arrival of Lin and all his overexposure was an affront to their collective manhood.

So amped was Chalmers that he picked up four fouls early in the third quarter and only played 25 minutes. Cole, after stealing the ball from Lin on his first possession of the second quarter, sprinted to the rim on a fast break and threw down the first dunk of his NBA career. His momentum during the play carried his 6-2 frame around the rim, and he crashed to the court on his side. The play sent even more electricity flashing through an already pulsating arena.

“We understand [defense] is our staple every night,” James said. “In order for us to win basketball games, we’ve got to defend, and on the other end we’ve got to share the ball. When we run, we’re kind of unbeatable because we get up the court so fast.”

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Miami Heat contains Jeremy Lin, defeats New York Knicks