The Phoenix Suns are an incredibly bad basketball team right now. To make matters worse, they started the game with the 11th different lineup this season. The unit that started looked like they'd never played together, which is understandable since they hadn't.
Suns Coach Alvin Gentry seemed to be trying to match the small Knicks lineup, but in the process outsmarted himself into a seven-point deficit within the first four minutes of the game. The Knicks never looked back and the Suns never looked like they had a chance.
"We just thought that was the best lineup to stick out there to try and match up with them so we don't have a seven-foot guy running around trying to chase a 6-5 guy," Alvin Gentry said when asked about his unusual lineup decision, including several late changes.
Josh Childress said he was told he would be starting just 10 minutes before the game.
In his triumphant return to Phoenix, Amare Stoudemire finished with 23 points and nine rebounds, but only played 31 minutes in the blowout. Raymond Felton added his own triple-double, with 21 points to go along with 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
"I had one objective and that was to dominate from the start," Stoudemire said after the game.
"That was my main goal was to dominate from the get go. I got it going early then in the second half, they went to a zone and my teammates got it going."
Vince Carter led the Suns with 19 points, followed by Steve Nash, who had 14 points and nine assists.
Through three quarters, while the game was still technically being contested, the Knicks went 15-28 from three-point range while the Suns were 5-18. Perhaps the most disappointing statistic for the Suns was being out-rebounded 59-34 for the game.
The Suns cancelled a scheduled practice for Saturday and will play again on Sunday at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers.