PHOENIX -- Suns head coach Alvin Gentry said before the game that to this point in the season, Amar'e Stoudemire is the MVP. Stoudemire played the part on Friday, and finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots as the Knicks cruised to a 121-96 blowout win over the reeling Phoenix Suns.
First Quarter: Knicks 30, Suns 22
Alvin Gentry and Mike D'Antoni are old friends, and as such, there was plenty of gamesmanship between the two before the game even started. Teams need to submit their initial lineups 45 minutes or so before game time, and when Gentry received the initial copy of the Knicks', he just started laughing.
Each coach had two revisions to their opening lineup before tip-off, and the Suns opened with an extremely unconventional one: Steve Nash, Mickael Pietrus, Josh Childress, Vince Carter ... and Grant Hill at center to guard Stoudemire.
Hill did an admirable job, fronting as much as he could, and getting a steal and a deflection in the game's first three and a half minutes. But Stoudemire got his, mostly on contested jumpers, and finished the period with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, to go along with two rebounds in 10 minutes of action. On the other end, Hill had eight points of his own, while dishing out two assists and getting two steals.
New York could have actually been up by more, but turned the ball over seven times to just three for the Suns. The primary reason for the lead (just as you'd expect) came from the Knicks' offense -- the team shot 52 percent from the floor, while knocking down five of its 10 attempts from three-point land.
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Full story at http://nba.fanhouse.com/2011/01/08/knicks-vs-suns-amare-stoudemire-shines-in-return-to-phoenix/
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