"It was Bill Walker mano-a-mano against LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

It wasn't a fair fight, but it turned out closer than anyone could have expected.

With Carmelo Anthony bailing out last night to rest, the Knicks went into Miami feeling their only chance of survival was to bomb away from the 3-point line, play gritty defense and seeing where the chips fall.

It almost worked, but ultimately Walker could not save them despite sinking seven 3-pointers and finishing with 21 points in the Heat's 99-89 victory at American Airlines Arena.

The mighty Heat staged a parade of highlight-reel dunks while the Knicks lived off 3-pointers, but threatened to pull a major upset for more than three quarters. The teams were tied at 74 with 9:50 left, and it looked as if Isiah Thomas, sitting in the first row of the baseline near the Knicks bench, had brought some rare good luck.

But ultimately their treys — 43 attempts in all — and not having Anthony's presence could not match up with Miami's power dunks by James and Wade."