Suns Give Knicks Dose of Their Own Medicine in MLK Day Loss

A young fan in section 58 of Madison Square Garden began to play Monopoly on his Ipad, as if there was nothing else better to do.

Surely, the way the Knicks have played in their last two games, playing Monopoly may have in fact been more entertaining (and perhaps even less frustrating) than watching the men in orange and blue.

Following a loss to the Kings in which the Knicks looked purely exhausted Friday night, the team was looking to bounce back during their annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee, this time against the Phoenix Suns.

Unfortunately, the Suns proved to be the Knicks' kryptonite as they took the victory by giving the Knicks a dose of their own medicine.

Having coached the system (and many of the Suns' players) for so many years, one would think Coach D'Antoni would know how to beat the Suns' rapid-fire offense by recognizing and exploiting certain flaws.

Unfortunately for the Knicks, the Suns did just that. The Suns were able to outrun the Knicks throughout the game. Although the game was close, the Knicks did not seem to have enough extra push to pull away with a lead large enough to win.

Ironically enough, the Knicks were beat by the Suns' older legs (literally). The Suns proved that perhaps classic never dies, with Steve Nash, Grant Hill, and Vince Carter all leading the way.

Nash recorded a near triple-double with 15 points, 11 assists, and 8 rebounds. Carter led the way with a season-high 29 points, and Hill added 25.

The all around solid attack was too much for the Knicks, who were led by Amar'e Stoudemire and his season-high 41 points.

In addition to receiving 23 points from Wilson Chandler, the Knicks were also boosted (but obviously not boosted enough) by the return of Danilo Gallinari, who previously missed six games due to a knee injury. Gallinari showed no signs of rust, dashing to the foul line multiple times with ease, shooting 8 for 9 from the charity stripe on his way to 17 points.

The ageless Nash was as good as ever, drawing fouls and getting his teammates the ball for a seemingly endless amount of open looks.

The Knicks' own budding point guard, Raymond Felton, who has previously outplayed the likes of Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups this season, could match Nash's greatness. Though he did have 13 assists, Felton followed up a 2 of 15 shooting performance against the Kings with a still less than stellar 3 of 13 from the field against the Suns.

At such a crucial and transitional point in the season, it's vitally important Felton does not become as run down as Chris Duhon did during his two seasons with the Knicks.

Felton has looked exhausted as of late, but D'Antoni has shown no signs of desiring to slow him down. Felton has been praised (sometimes more than Stoudemire) as the reason for the Knicks' early success this season, so if D'Antoni wants to keep that same success up, perhaps it's time to grant Felton some extra time on the bench. Roger Mason Jr. and Andy Rautins have been noted as potential bench warmers ready to spell Felton at the point.