Matthew Falkenbury, theKnicksBlog.com

New York Knicks vs. Miami Heat.

When you say it, you get chills. When the part comes to say “Miami Heat”, you have a bit of a menacing tone in your voice.

You remember those playoff battles in the late 90′s with guys like Ewing, Houston, Johnson, Mourning, Hardaway, Riley, Van Gundy and many more.

But today the rivalry is much different. It’s not so much two even teams battling for supremacy as it is one team standing on top while the other looks to chase them down to get to the top themselves.

The Knicks this season fired the first two shots of this four game season series and did it with hay-makers nobody saw coming.

An opening night beat down that helped a city and tri-state area forget for a little while the devastation of Hurricane Sandy. Then with Carmelo Anthony out and playing on the road on the second night of a back to back the Knicks walked into Miami and again laid a beat down nobody saw coming.

But even after those two fantastic wins earlier in the season today is being seen as a measuring stick game for the Knicks. A way to see, since going 17-15 after the 18-5 start, where the Knicks stand and against one of the elite teams in the NBA and the best team in the East.

The problems on defense still exist that the Heat did not see in the first two meetings and the three point ball, so helpful in their two wins over the Heat, has not been falling as well.

For the Knicks to win today they must go back to doing what they did so well in those two wins. Keep Miami out of the paint, not turn the ball over so they can’t get out in transition and knock down their three pointers.

Lebron James was proven human on Friday by the tough defense of the Memphis Grizzlies and we know somewhere deep down the Knicks have the ability to play that kind of defense. The question really is whether the Knicks can execute enough on defense to actually pull it off.

Today’s game will not be easy, but you all knew that already. But, to have the Knicks and the Heat, the two best teams in the East (record wise) playing on National TV on a Sunday Afternoon is going to be so much fun to watch.

The Heat are one win away from tying a franchise record for consecutive wins with 14. I would love nothing more than for the Knicks to be the ones from keeping that original record in tact.

Five Questions About Tonight’s Game

1. Can the Knicks slow down Lebron like the Grizzlies did?
2. How will Iman Shumpert look against Dwayne Wade?
3. How will Marcus Camby look in his return from injury?
4. Can the Knicks burn the Heat from downtown again?
5. Who will step up to help Carmelo on offense?