It could have been much worse for Amar’e Stoudemire and the Knicks on Wednesday night.
David Lee marched into the Garden and led the Warriors to win over his former team. The only positive for the Knicks is that Stoudemire had his best game with them, racking up 33 points and 10 rebounds in the 122-117 defeat. If Stoudemire produced a dud, comparisons between the two power forwards would have been unavoidable and unfavorable.
The Warriors’ victory lifted them to 6-2, four games over .500, a mark Lee did not hit in five seasons in New York. Lee was a great fit for the Warriors, just like he was for the Knicks. At this moment the Warriors just have more talent than the Knicks of the past. Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry are one of the top backcourts in the NBA, putting up a combined 48.8 points per game. They were able to find Lee for wide-open spots to help him to his team-high 28 points.
Stoudemire cannot afford to be part of the Knicks’ success, he has to be the reason for it. He was able to do that opening night when he scored seven points down the stretch to lead the Knicks past the Raptors, 98-93.
Stoudemire has not replicated that clutch performance in the Knicks’ seven games since. The Knicks’ two other wins this season — at Chicago, vs. Washington — can be chalked up to hot shooting nights when Stoudemire’s biggest influence came with the double teams his presence called for opening up outside shooters.
Last night was a chance to show the Knicks made the right decision giving Stoudemire a max contract then shipping Lee to the Warriors for Ronny Turiaf, Anthony Randolph and Kelenna Azubuike. Instead, Stoudemire missed two free throws with 43 seconds left that could have cut Golden State’s advantage to one.
The good news for the Knicks and Stoudemire is that there will be many more chances this season and beyond. This Knicks team has shown potential, but there will be some growing pains, as this ugly three-game losing streak has demonstrated. And Stoudemire has to grow into a star without Steve Nash setting him up. That’s something, for all his positives, Lee never was in New York.
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Most impressive feat of the early season belongs to the Jazz.
Utah rallied from 22 points down to beat Miami on Tuesday night, highlighted by Paul Millsap’s 46 points, including 11 in the final 28 seconds. So, would the Jazz suffer from an expected letdown the next night against Orlando?
It seemed so when they fell into an 18-point hole against the Magic, but they again rallied behind Deron Williams’ 30 points to win 104-94.
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No one seems to like Kevin Garnett outside of Boston these days.
A week after Charlie Villanueva called him out for inappropriate trash talk, Joakim Noah called Garnett “mean” and “ugly.”
“He’s a very mean guy,” the Bulls power forward said Wednesday. “Where’s the love? None at all. Ugly, too.”
“And he’s only mean to the young guys and the [European players], for some reason,” Noah added. “I don’t know why, but that’s who he doesn’t like. He’s not nice. I talk a lot of trash out there, but c’mon, be a little sensitive. Be sweet.”
