Friday's Heat vs Knicks Game at MSG Will be Played

 

With their home opener at American Airlines Arena being a success, the Miami Heat had to wait until this afternoon to see if their road debut would go on as scheduled.

The NBA announced today that while the game between the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets scheduled for Thursday at the Barclays Center is being cancelled, the game between the Heat and Knicks scheduled for Friday at Madison Square Garden will go on.

The NBA cancelled the Thursday game at the behest of New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg as the city is recovering from the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy on Monday. The subway system is still inactive and will be reactivated at a limited capacity Thursday. The majority of car tunnels that link the island of Manhattan to the rest of the tri-state area are still partially submerged in water but progress is being made in pumping out the water from them. Sporadic blackouts are still affecting areas of Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island.

When in comes to the Heat the problem lied in finding an airport to land in New York. Each major airport in the tri-state sustained damage due to Sandy. John F. Kennedy Airport is currently working in a limited capacity while LaGuardia Airport is still shut down until Thursday morning.

The most likely reason for the NBA to still have this game while cancelling the Brooklyn date is the television coverage. Both games were scheduled to broadcast on national television, but only one featured the defending NBA champions in the Heat.

The game could  have been rescheduled for a date around the time Miami would be in Brooklyn to face the Nets barring ary conflics.