Knicks" Anthony Has More to Prove Than Heat's James Does Chris Trotman/Getty Images Both Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James will have their reputations on the line in the best-of-seven series between the Knicks and the Heat. It is hardly a strain to argue that the compelling first-round matchup between the Knicks and the Miami Heat is largely about the baggage strapped onto the backs of LeBron James and company as they begin the 2012 post-season. There is much work ahead for Miami after it had the first of multiple titles promised by James during the summer of 2010 snatched away by Dallas last June. There is also much playoff history with the Knicks, most of it sounding like fingernails on the blackboard to the Heat's president, Pat Riley. And there are similarities to the last lockout-shortened season, 1998-99, when Jeff Van Gundy's eighth-seeded Knicks left the Riley-coached and top-seeded Heat to sullenly watch Alan Houston sprint the length of the floor in celebration of his series-winning basket. But there is another side to this high-profile showdown, another superstar whose reputation is on the line, or should be, in the best-of-seven series that will begin Saturday afternoon in Miami. The argument can be made that Carmelo Anthony has more to prove over the next 10 days to two weeks than James does. He and the Knicks have to get out of the first round, or come darn close, if there is to be a positive spin put on the season for player and team alike. Yes, Anthony and the Knicks are poised to challenge the Heat like no other bottom-rung playoff team in the Eastern Conference. Yes, they have galvanized under the interim coach Mike Woodson, whose mere ascension into the position vacated by Mike D'Antoni brought life to Anthony's defensive posture and a transcendent aura to his overall game. Yes, the presence of Tyson Chandler to defend the rim and Iman Shumpert to pressure the ball are two time-honored playoff necessities the Knicks sorely lacked when they were swept four straight by the Boston Celtics in the first round last spring. But after a four-month, 66-game grind that had enough rewrites to the Knicks" narrative to cover a half decade, here is the position - or predicament - they find themselves in: Seventh place, or one slot lower than last season, when they finished with a similar winning percentage despite trading everyone but Walt Frazier for Anthony, leaving them with a bench that was thinner than Anthony's willingness to perform for D'Antoni. Seventh place, putting them in the unenviable position of having to defeat James and Wade four times to extend their season beyond the first round for the first time since 2000. A year ago, Indiana was the eighth-place finisher in the East, losing with valor to Chicago in a five-game series. But the Pacers built on that experience with a 42-24 record this time around, passing the Knicks by in the process and earning them the No. 3 seed and a first-round series against the Dwight Howard-less Magic. Few N.B.A. experts would rate the Pacers as a stronger championship contender than the Knicks, given their lack of a cold-eyed gunslinger in Anthony's class. And while they might be right about that, this is a bottom-line business and results speak louder than analysis. Injuries and reinventions aside, the Knicks lost too many early season games they should have won. When Anthony returned from an injury in early March with the team at .500 and seemingly ready to push northward in the standings, he declared his cold war with D'Antoni that happened to coincide with a six-game losing streak. Hindsight tells us D'Antoni should have been less doctrinaire about having his newly minted point guard, Jeremy Lin, play the role of the ball-dominating Steve Nash. But those games counted and ultimately set the Knicks too far back to get a higher playoff standing. If Anthony is their leader, he must be accountable from season's start to finish. Unlike the Knicks, the Heat, as a proven playoff team, could afford to coast and fine-tune for the playoffs. Chris Bosh hasn't played since April 16 and Miami's Big Three has not been together in the same game since April 15. "Playoff time is what we've all been waiting for," Dwyane Wade told reporters after the Heat finished the preparatory exercise of the regular season Thursday night with the fourth-best record in the N.B.A. Wade has a championship ring so he floats above the fury that is sure to again envelop his world-famous co-star. No one in the N.B.A. is a bigger lightning rod for all-or-nothing scrutiny than James, who entered the league with Anthony in 2003 but to a much louder drumroll as the self-acclaimed Chosen One. But James has already carried one otherwise marginal-at-best team (Cleveland in 2007) to the finals and came within two victories of a title with Miami last season. Over his career he has been in 92 playoff games compared to Anthony's 49. In eight years, Anthony has made it past the first round once. It's a team game, that we know, but the steep price of superstardom is to be historically judged by the success of the collective. Now Anthony has Chandler, the adult in the room, backing him up. He has Amar'e Stoudemire to ease the scoring load. He has firepower off the bench in J. R. Smith and Steve Novak. He has a coach, Woodson, to make sure he gets the ball but who won't be afraid to tell him to move his feet at the other end. Here, then, is an opportunity for one last, dramatic rewrite. Here is Anthony's time to rise in the East as he never did in the West. Here is his chance to take his talents to South Beach and to make that No. 7 on his jersey count for much more than seventh place in the conference.