Alot of people had been predicting the Knicks as a contender in the east. Miami has been doing this all season....people have been pumping up up and coming teams and Miami beats them down (see Pacers, Philly). There is a game within the game and Miami's players said as much (Wade and Bosh specifically). It was obvious the Heat set out to shut the Knicks down and they did. Had the Knicks won last night the Lin and Knicks craze would have went to an entire new level simply because they beat the Heat and the Heat knew this.
Believe it or not players around the league are taking note of Jeremy Lin and he is beginning to become a target of the leagues great players (see Deron Williams, see Miami last night, etc). Lin is going to have to adjust.