Suns-Knicks Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Dec 02 2012 12:02PM

The New York Knicks have lost two of three to the Phoenix Suns since Amare Stoudemire joined the team, but figure to be in good position to win the next matchup even without him.

The Knicks can improve to 7-0 at home Sunday when they try to hand the Suns a third straight loss.

Stoudemire remains out due to his persistent knee problems so he won't be able to help New York (11-4) avoid a third straight loss to Phoenix (7-10).

The Knicks may not need him because they are off to their best start at Madison Square Garden since winning their first nine games there in 1992-93. That team matched a franchise record with 60 victories.

New York improved to 17-1 at home in the regular season under coach Mike Woodson with Friday's 108-87 rout of Washington.

"The Garden is known when it's rocking as one of the toughest places to play so we want to bring that back," said Carmelo Anthony, who had 20 points in a season-low 27 minutes. "For us to just keep that going and protect that home court is big."

The Knicks have won two of three without Jason Kidd, who is expected to miss his fourth straight game Sunday due to lower back spasms.

Kidd's absence hasn't had too big an impact since newcomer Pablo Prigioni has provided quality minutes backing up Raymond Felton. Prigioni has totaled 19 points and 12 assists in consecutive victories.

"For Pablo to step up as he's been doing at that PG position has been spectacular for us," Anthony said.

While Prigioni is enjoying his first NBA season on a winning team, his teammate from Argentina's national squad - Luis Scola - can't say the same about his first season with the Suns.

Scola struggled to make 4 of 13 shots for eight points in Friday's 101-97 loss to a Toronto team that had lost six straight. The former Houston big man's scoring average of 12.7 is his lowest in four seasons, and he voiced his frustration after playing the Raptors.

"We need to change the dynamic, we need to change our attitude, we need to change our minds," Scola said. "We're in the kind of dynamic where everything goes wrong. We just can't get it going.

"We need to start thinking like a winning team. We need to start believing in ourselves and winning games."

Fellow newcomer Goran Dragic is averaging team highs of 15.6 points and 6.6 assists with big shoes to fill in replacing Steve Nash at point guard. Dragic has totaled 23 points and six assists in two straight losses to the lowly Raptors and Detroit.

The Suns, 2-7 on the road, are allowing a league-worst 102.5 points per game.

Friday's win for the Knicks closed out their strong November. Eight of New York's first 12 games this month are at home.

"That's a big month for us. Coming into the season, my goal and our goal was to at least get 10 wins for this month," Anthony said. "Any time you can get 10 wins in a month, especially the first month, that's always good."

Knicks beat Suns, stay unbeaten at home

By BRIAN MAHONEY
Posted Dec 02 2012 6:25PM

NEW YORK (AP) Rasheed Wallace delivered a hard whack to Luis Scola, then some hard words to the referees.

These New York Knicks won't let anybody have it easy at Madison Square Garden, not even the officials.

Carmelo Anthony scored 34 points and the Knicks ran their best home start in 20 years to 7-0, withstanding Wallace's ejection after a mere 1:25 of playing time to beat the Phoenix Suns 106-99 on Sunday.

Phoenix had won its last two at MSG but the Knicks have finally figured out under coach Mike Woodson that home-court games are not to be wasted. They are 18-1 in the regular season here since he took over last March, jumping on their last few opponents from the start.

"His whole thing when he came in is we're going to protect our home floor. We're going to win every game at home, or we're going to try to win every game at home, and we're going to go out on the road and compete," center Tyson Chandler said. "So his whole thing is we've got to protect our house. Teams coming in got to feel like they've got to go somewhere else to get a win."

Raymond Felton had 23 points, seven assists and no turnovers for the Knicks, who last won seven straight at Madison Square Garden to open a season when they started 9-0 in 1992-93. The point guard was hurting after the game. He went for an MRI exam that revealed a bone bruise in his swollen left hand.

"I got jammed in between another player," he said. "Just a lot of pain in my thumb."

Chandler finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds as the Knicks improved to 12-4 overall, a half-game behind Miami for the best record in the Eastern Conference. They got off to a good start in December after winning 11 in November for the first time since a 12-victory November in 1972 on the way to their last NBA championship.

"I think they're a hell of basketball team. I really do," Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry said. "When you add Iman Shumpert and Amar'e Stoudemire back to the mix, shoot, they're as good as anybody."

The Knicks shook off the first ejection of Wallace's comeback that left them short-handed. Jason Kidd missed a fourth straight game with lower back spasms but hopes to return during their three-game road trip that includes a game in Miami on Thursday.

Marcin Gortat had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Suns, who dropped their third straight and fell to 1-4 on their season-high, six-game road trip that ends Tuesday in Memphis. Shannon Brown scored 17 points.

The Suns have trailed by double digits in 14 of their 18 games and were already down 10 just 4:18 into the game. The Knicks seemed well on their way to eclipsing their NBA-best average of 27.5 points per first quarter when they jumped ahead 21-6 with 5:15 left in the period.

But they got bogged down committing fouls, including one on Wallace against Scola that was followed by a technical foul when he hit Scola across the arm after the whistle. After Goran Dragic missed the free throw, Wallace yelled "Ball don't lie!" - his way of saying the call was proven wrong - and whistled for another to pick up his 31st career ejection, most in the league since 1991-92, according to STATS, LLC.

Wallace apologized to the Knicks before leaving without speaking to the media. The Knicks felt the foul wasn't out of line because Scola continued to play through the whistle in trying to get a shot up, so Wallace had the right to as well.

"In this league, it's something called continuation. Sheed stopped him, they gave a tech. It is what it is," Anthony said.

Wallace has been called for more than 300 technical fouls in his career and led the league seven times, but said he was too old to be clashing with officials at age 38 when he ended a two-year retirement. But he's up to four for the season now, one off the league lead.

Anthony said he thought the temperamental forward's reputation was held against him Sunday.

"I think so. I mean he's the only guy in the league that gets technicals for saying `Ball don't lie,"' Anthony said, adding that Wallace should trademark the term. "So, I mean, that should tell you right there."

The Suns pulled within 24-20 after one before the Knicks broke it open again late in the second with an 11-2 spurt that gave them a 59-39 lead with 24 seconds left in the half.

But the game got close a few times in the second half.

Phoenix had the ball with a chance to get within 10 in the final minute of the third but Gortat was whistled for an offensive foul. The Knicks then scored the next five points, taking an 89-72 lead to the fourth after Anthony made a 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left.

The Suns made a charge to open the fourth, pulling within 93-85 on Jared Dudley's 3-pointer midway through the period. A follow dunk by Chandler before baskets by Felton and Anthony pushed the lead to 97-85 with 5:16 to go, yet still the Knicks couldn't put it away. Phoenix got it down to 103-99 on Brown's layup with 26 seconds left, but JR Smith - who was 1 of 11 from the field - made two free throws and Chandler added one.

"We've just got to stop digging ourselves in a hole," Suns forward Michael Beasley said. "When you get down 15, 20 points, you kind of need a perfect storm to come back and I feel like we're relying on that perfect storm in too many of our games."

Notes: Backup center Marcus Camby, unable to crack the Knicks' rotation after he was sidelined most of the preseason, was out with a sore left foot. ... Suns veteran Jermaine O'Neal sat out with a strained right quadriceps. ... The Knicks regained the series lead at 58-57. Phoenix has only led once, after winning the first meeting on Oct. 24, 1968. ... The national anthem was performed by Abigail Shapiro, who plays Cindy Lou in the upcoming "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" at Madison Square Garden's theater. The Grinch was on the court posing for photos before the game.

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Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney

Notebook: Knicks 106, Suns 99

Adam Zagoria, for NBA.com
Posted Sun Dec 02, 2012 3:24 PM - Updated Sun Dec 02, 2012 3:24 PM

THE FACTS: Carmelo Anthony scored 34 points and Raymond Felton added 23 points, seven assists and no turnovers as the Knicks won their third straight by defeating the Phoenix Suns, 106-99, at Madison Square Garden.

Tyson Chandler added a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks (12-4), who improved to 7-0 at home this season and 18-1 all-time at home under coach Mike Woodson.

Steve Novak added 12 points off the bench and Knicks rookie Chris Copeland notched his career-high eight points.

Marcin Gortat went for 18 points and 10 rebounds for Phoenix and Shannon Brown added 17 points.

In his return to his hometown, Suns guard Sebastian Telfair added 11 points and three assists.

QUOTABLE: "When I'm aggressive it opens things up for all our shooters, for J.R. [Smith], for Melo, Novak so I've gotta be aggressive when I'm coming off the screen-and-roll." -- Felton on the MSG Network

THE STAT: The Knicks went 12-for-29 from beyond the arc, while the Suns shot 8-for-23.

TURNING POINT: Although Phoenix cut the lead to four points in the second half at 103-99, the Knicks continue to get ahead early at home and stay ahead. They raced out to a 21-6 lead thanks to eight points from Anthony and then outscored Phoenix 35-22 in the second period en route to a 59-42 halftime lead. Anthony had 17 points at the break.

QUOTABLE II: "Every game's not going to be a runaway or blowout for us. You gotta give them credit. They played hard. They were scrapping it out and made a game out of it. We closed it out and got a 'W,' that's what counts." -- Woodson

WHO'S HOT: Chandler leads the NBA in field goal percentage at 71 percent entering the game. He went 6-for-8 en route to a double-double.

WHO'S NOT: The Suns (7-11) dropped their third straight game and fourth in five outings.

QUOTABLE III: "The reason he's scoring a lot more on putbacks, offensive rebounds...He's been gobbling up a lot of missed shots and putting them back and he's finishing around the rim." -- Woodson on Chandler

NOTABLE: Jason Kidd (back spasms) remained out at the starting shooting guard spot for the Knicks but hopes to return for the upcoming three-game road trip beginning Wednesday in Charlotte.

-- "He's back out on the floor shooting, but when his return is expected I don't know at this point," Woodson said.

NOTABLE II: Rasheed Wallace picked up two technical fouls in the first quarter and was ejected. He was in the game for a total of 85 seconds. The Elias Sports Bureau said it was the fastest he's ever been thrown out. Marcus Camby (sore foot) was also out, which opened up playing time for Copeland.

QUOTABLE IV: "Cope came in and he stepped up. He helped us in that first half." -- Woodson, who also declined comment on the Wallace situation.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Spike Lee sat courtside and spoke with Amar'e Stoudemire before the game.

UP NEXT: For the Knicks, Wednesday @ Charlotte, Thursday @ Miami, Saturday @ Chicago. For the Suns, Tuesday @ Memphis, Thursday vs. Dallas, Saturday @ L.A. Clippers.

• Suns: Frye, Marshall
• Knicks: Shumpert, Stoudemire

• Suns: Beasley
• Knicks: Wallace, Wallace

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
• Officials: #71 Rodney Mott, #30 John Goble, #61 Courtney Kirkland
• Attendance: 19033
• Duration: 2:15