Hustle Points: Struggling Star-Crossed Teams

Last night was a night two of the marquee NBA teams would like to forget, The Miami Heat got stomped out by the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks lost to the Cleveland Cavs.

First I'll start with the Knicks, I understand that Chauncey Billups was out of the lineup because of a bruised left thigh, but as we all remember, they lost when he was the starting point guard as well.

The best game the Knicks have played since the 'Melo trade was against the Heat, which is looking more and more questionable by the second.

New York since the trade has struggled to beat a terrible Bucks unit and dominated a lost New Orleans roster and of course there's that Heat victory.

It hasn't been an impressive showing from the New York Two Step (I want that to stick), and I honestly thought there wouldn't be as many issues as there have been because of the ability of Carmelo to take over games and come through in tight situations.

Well, he hasn't done that much at all, since he's become a Knick it's been hit and miss with the misses overwhelming the hits. When he's not shooting 10 of 26 for 25 points, he's committing the game ending foul like last night to effectively seal the game for the other team.

The one thing I didn't think the Knicks would have to wait for is Anthony's ability to control games, in New York it seems like the moment of playing at the Garden is controlling him a little bit.

There's no doubt that Billups will make the Knicks a lot more cohesive than they looked last night, but maybe I got ahead of myself when I said that this team could compete for the second round berth in the playoffs.

Now to the Miami Heat, I honestly thought they were past their early season struggles, but I was wrong about that too...I'm usually never incorrect. The Heat look as bad as they did in that 9-8 and maybe even worse.

There's nothing that can be said about last night's 30 point destruction, so I'll instead try to look at the other games, the Heat have blown in the past week.

The biggest thing about the Heat has been how there's no direction in the final possession of close games, but the ball always inevitably ends up in LeBron's hands which has proven as of late to be the wrong move.

And on Thursday night, Chris Bosh was set up for the final shot, Chris Bosh?

Why hasn't Dwyane Wade been in that position this season, I can count on one hand the amount of times Wade has taken the final shot in a game, if the Heat wants to be able to finish games off vs. winning teams going into the playoffs, the ball has to be put in Wade's hands in the final minute much more often.

Is fixing the Heat as simple as putting the ball in Wade's hands in the final seconds and is fixing the Knicks as easy as getting Billups back and giving him a bigger piece of the scoring pie, as of today, yeah I think so.

Photos Courtesy Reuters and the New York Daily News

Iguodala Takes Over

Last night's victory for the Sixers wasn't a game changer by any means, but it showed once again how this team has been able to avoid the dreaded slump that a bad loss could cost and the Sixers also looked like a better team down the stretch after the T'Wolves made a charge in the final minutes, both really good signs as the Sixers prepare to battle the Knicks for the sixth seed.

Philadelphia climbs over the .500 mark once again, now at 31-30 on the season and are only a half game behind the Knicks, who faltered at home last night against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Andre Iguodala has been a gigantic reason behind the resurgence of the Sixers this season and last night is a reason why.

Iggy has been the vocal unselfish leader for this team and quite frankly, he's put his money where his mouth is and has stepped it up with his attitude and play rather than only with his numbers.

Andre has had good stats this season, not superstar level stats, but they have been what this team has needed to be competitive night after night against the best and worst in the NBA and as a result this team is in the race and Iggy is a big reason for that, so we have to give him the props he deserves and last night he lit it up again.

Iguodala had a big-time triple double last night of 22 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists and every single play he made last night has a big one as he appeared on many occasions to be in multiple places at once.

Andre is one of the most discussed "superstars" in Philadelphia and it's mainly because of his large contract, but honestly you can't dis a guy when he's performing and to me averaging 14/6/6 is just what Doug Collins is asking for and on top of that, his teammates love him.

It's about time the Iggy haters take a step back and look at the larger picture which is, this team isn't as good as they are now without him.

You can want the video game numbers and LeBron-like performance, but we have to realize that's not Andre's game. He's a great slasher with lock down defensive ability and he's been exactly what we've needed this season, let's appreciate that.

Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press