Die Macht » with their later picks, but rather players with skill pote

MIAMI -- This season may be the first time in 17 years that the New York Knicks can actually say they are better than the Miami Heat.New York, led by established standouts Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose and superstar-in-the making 7-3 center/forward/shooting guard Kristaps Porzingis, may be for real this time around.The old rivals -- more on that later -- will meet on Tuesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena, and the Knicks (11-9) are in a virtual three-way tie for fifth place in the Eastern Conference. They have won three in a row and eight of their past 11 and are just one game out of third place.Two games over .500 is nothing to get excited about for many NBA franchises, but it is nose-bleed country for the Knicks and their fans, who have had little to cheer about for nearly two decades.Put it this way, at no point in the past three-plus seasons have the Knicks been three games over .500, which is what they would achieve if they beat the Heat on Tuesday.New Yorks most recent win, 106-98 on Sunday night against the visiting Sacramento Kings, was not a thing of beauty. The Knicks built a 21-point lead before allowing a Kings 18-0 run.I dont think anybody on our team cares about stats -- the main objective is just to get wins, Knicks guard Brandon Jennings told the media when asked about the concept of winning ugly. But weve got to get better.While the Knicks are striving to provide a little more quality in their wins, the Heat arrive home with a 7-13 record that does not befit this proud franchise.They are in 12th place in the Eastern Conference. And while its early, they have dug themselves a hole if they plan to make the top eight and the playoffs.On the bright side for Miami, the Heat is coming off a successful 2-1 road trip.Youd love to go 3-0, said Heat center Hassan Whiteside, who had 28 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks in the trips finale, a 99-92 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night. But anytime you go positive on a road trip, thats motivation.Whiteside could have another big game against the Knicks, and here are two reasons why:First, Whiteside has big games against almost everybody lately, which is why he ranks first in the NBA in rebounds (14.9) and third in blocks (2.6). He is also averaging a team-best 17.8 points on 56.2 percent shooting from the floor.Second, New Yorks defense is not very good, especially against post players. Sacramentos DeMarcus Cousins had 36 points and 12 rebounds on Sunday, and Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns had 47 points and 18 rebounds on Wednesday.Tuesdays game will be difficult to handicap since the Heat is just 2-7 at home and the Knicks are 2-6 on the road.Injuries are another factor, mostly for the Heat.For Miami, small forwards Luke Babbit (hip flexor) and Justise Winslow (wrist) and shooting guards Dion Waiters (groin) and Josh Richardson (ankle) are expected to sit out. All four have started games this season.The Knicks are missing just one player, starting shooting guard Courtney Lee, who has missed two straight games due to a sprained left ankle.Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek told the media Lee was feeling better but still not 100 percent, which was especially noticeable on lateral movements.Now about that Knicks-Heat rivalry ...The last time the Knicks beat the Heat in a playoffs series was in 2000.That was Patrick Ewings last season in New York, and the rivalry pretty much ended with his departure. The Knicks have been mostly miserable in the post-Ewing era, winning just one playoff series in all this time, beating the Boston Celtics in the first round in 2013.Of course, the Heat won their second straight NBA title that year, so forgive them if they barely noticed New York winning a first-round series.But for those who are too young to fully understand the Heat-Knicks rivalry ... or for those too old to remember how captivating and thrilling it was, here is a CliffsNotes version of what went down in four glorious series in four consecutive years:The bitterness between the organizations began when coach Pat Riley, upset that the Knicks would not let him have enough of a say in personnel decisions, bolted to Miami.And in 1997, with Riley coaching the Heat and Jeff Van Gundy leading New York, there was high drama. New York led the conference semifinals 3-1, but the Heat came back to win 4-3.There should be an asterisk next to that series win, however. Due to a brawl in Game 5, the Knicks suffered several key suspensions, causing two missed games by Charlie Ward and one each by Ewing, Allan Houston, Larry Johnson and John Starks. That crippled the Knicks chances.In 1998, the Knicks got even, winning 3-2 in a first-round series again spiced by a fight, this time between Johnson and Alonzo Mourning.In 1999, the Knicks again beat the Heat 3-2 in the first round, this time on Houstons winning shot that bounced off the rim and off the backboard before finally falling through the net with just 0.8 seconds left. The eighth-seeded Knicks crushed the dreams of top-seeded Miami that year.And in 2000, the Knicks beat the Heat 4-3 in a conference semifinal. Ewing dunked on Miami in the final seconds of what was a one-point New York win -- a fitting way to end that era of this incredible rivalry.Will Heat-Knicks ever be that good again?Probably not, but the Whiteside-Porzingis matchup should be a very good one for years to come. 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Joe Gomez Liverpool Jersey .com) - Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Roger Federer were easy first-round winners Tuesday at the Australian Open. Roberto Firmino Jersey . It was the second consecutive win for the Pacers (2-5), who lost their first five preseason games. Jeff Teague led the Hawks (1-5) with 17 points and eight assists and Al Horford had 12 points and seven rebounds. Mike Scott scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half.EDMONTON - Craig MacTavish said he has spoken to virtually every NHL general manager over the last few weeks, talking possible deals involving draft picks or roster players in an effort to bulk up his team. The Edmonton rookie GM is heading to Newark, N.J. for Sundays NHL draft determined to add desperately needed size to the Oilers. He said he will be disappointed if he doesnt come home with two or three roster players. "Im motivated to do something to help this current roster," he said. "I want to make sure were at least able to add a big piece with that first pick (No. 7), but outside of that Im pretty open minded to doing anything." The primary need, he explained, was size and depth. "We will try and use some of the existing players that we have now to try to make some trades for the meat that weve all talked about and that everybody has identified as a real area of concern for our team," he said. "My sense is that we try to put together some packages to attract some of those players. We all know the division were going into next year is a strong division. Were going to need big, strong players to compete." He said it will likely take a combination of moving some current roster players and some draft choices. After No. 7, Edmonton has two second-round picks, Nos. 37 and 56, plus one pick each in the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds. MacTavish said he has received some offers for his first-round pick, but nothing "that even remotely would sway me to move that pick." "We know the default option is a good one, were going to get a very good player there," he added. This years draft is considered a deep one and MacTavish is confident there will be several players available at No. 7 who could help the Oilers in the near future, if not immediately. "We realize at seven were going to get one of about four players. Through the course of the last six months … I realized there are a lot of players out tthere I would be excited to add to our roster and certainly at seven theres a lot.dddddddddddd" With the deep draft, he expects the second-round picks to become more valuable as Sunday nears. "I feel the most liquid currency in this business are second-round picks and we have a couple of those," he said At the same time, hes not overly anxious to move those picks without what he considers fair compensation in return, keeping in mind the success the early Oilers had with draft picks. They got Mark Messier at No. 48 in 1979 and in 1980 got Hall of Fame defenceman Paul Coffey at No. 6, forward Jari Kurri at No. 69 and goaltender Andy Moog at No. 132. MacTavish said this years Stanley Cup final once again demonstrated the value of having depth, something the Oilers lack with their current roster. "The year we went to Cup final (2006) we had lots of guys who could contribute offensively and last year we really didnt," he said. "We had a lot of one or two or zero goal scorers who were out there … really the best you could hope for was they were a non-negative factor. We have to let the core players continue to develop … and we have to build that supporting cast around them." For that reason, he said the team wouldnt be looking at role players with their later picks, but rather players with skill potential to develop. Role players, he said, could easily be found if needed. MacTavish wouldnt comment on his plans for the two available contract buy-outs this year or what qualifying offers the team intends to make. He did say he is "somewhat optimistic" he can get forward Sam Gagner, the teams second leading scorer with 38 points, signed to a long-term contract. "At some point we have to, as an organization, start rewarding people who really embody the characteristics that we hold in high regard. Sam really fits that. There are a lot of reasons why we want to get Sam on a long-term contract." ' ' '