Looking ahead in the NBA

MIAMI AT NEW YORK: Friday, 4 p.m. PST. TV: ESPN

There are several intriguing matchups on national TV this week (Boston at New York on Wednesday, San Antonio at Denver on Thursday), but we’ll go with this Paparazzi Special. This one not only matches the coming Heat against the coming Knicks, it pits the ESPN task force covering the Heat against the mighty Gotham press corps, which was unchallenged before the rise of cable TV. The Heat’s recent rally is no surprise, except perhaps to LeBron James or whoever put out those distress signals pointing at Coach Erik Spoelstra. The Knicks’ rise is a huge surprise after their 2-8 start when the Gotham press said Raymond Felton couldn’t even run pick-and-rolls. With Felton and Amare Stoudemire on fire, running pick-and-rolls, there appear to be new developments in the story.

— Mark Heisler