Eastern Conference Southeast Division leading team Miami Heat defeated the New York Knicks with a 98-81 victory at the Madison Square Garden on Sunday night.

Dwyane Wade finished the game with 26 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals to lead Miami to their 33^rd triumph in 29 games played this season. Hassan Whiteside, the league's top rim protector with 3.94 blocked shot per game, added 16 points, 11 boards, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots.

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Seven-time NBA All-Star Joe Johnson, the Heat's latest acquisition from Brooklyn Nets, played his debut game with the Heat as a starter. He connected a trey in his first shot wearing the jersey of the three-time NBA champion squad and finished the evening with 12 points while shooting 5 for 10 from the field.

"This is kind of new, but I'm up for it, man," Johnson, who also had 3 assists and 3 rebounds in 30.08 minutes of playing time, said. "It's a challenge. I'm looking forward to it, and every game from here on out is going to be a playoff-type game for us. We've got to have that mentality."

The game was mostly controlled by the Heat, who had improved to 15-14 in games they played on road, as they dominated the paint, scoring 54 points against the 30 points the Knicks in the shaded area. Miami hit 40 for 84 from the floor shooting 47.6 from the field, while the Knicks dropped 32 of 87 shots for a 36.8 field goal percentage.

Carmelo Anthony, who shot 9 for 24 from the floor in 41.28 minutes of playing time, had 25 points and 7 boards for the Knicks, who dropped to 25-36 to become the fourth worst team in the Eastern Conference.  Center Robin Lopez and Lance Thomas had 14 points and 12 points respectively.

"We just couldn't get any sort of consistent rhythm because we couldn't make the shots we normally make," Knicks interim coach Kurt Rambis said. "It breaks your momentum, it breaks your confidence and guys couldn't just get momentum, get the fans involved in the ballgame."

TagsMiami Heat, new york knicks, NBA