AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — As each game goes by, Amar’e Stoudemire is showing why he’s worth $100 million and point guard Raymond Felton is showing why he has become one of the summer’s best-valued free-agent signings.
The Knicks’ co-captains led in so many ways yesterday on a Sunday afternoon in the Detroit suburbs, allowing them to get back their winning vibe and get back to .500.
Stoudemire played 54 minutes on a sprained ankle and Felton battled a stomach flu and played 53:29 to lead the shorthanded Knicks to a 125-116 triumph over the Pistons in a double-overtime thriller at The Palace.
Stoudemire scored 37 points with 15 rebounds and seven assists, Felton had 23 points and 11 assists and Danilo Gallinari shook off a terrible defensive outing against Tayshaun Prince to bang home two huge 3-pointers in the second OT to seal the Knicks’ fifth straight road victory. It’s the franchise’s longest road winning streak since 2000-2001.
The Knicks’ little Big 3 — Stoudemire, Felton and Gallinari — have the club at 9-9, one-half game worse than Miami. The Knicks have won six of seven and bounced back from Saturday’s downer when their five-game winning streak was snapped against Atlanta at the Garden.
“The ankle is definitely sore,” Stoudemire said. “The game is a battle of will. I was able to tough it out.
“We knew it was a very important win to get and we got it.”
Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni couldn’t say enough about Stoudemire’s leadership yesterday.
“He’s great — just everything from the right thing to say at timeouts,” D’Antoni gushed. “Just his persona and aura is really good. That’s what a leader has to do. Never be down or cross with anybody and keep leading. Raymond was sick so he was real quiet on the bench and [Amar’e] filled the void. That’s what great leadership is and it’s not about making or missing last shots.”
The combination of two overtimes and a short rotation — because of injuries to Ronny Turiaf (knee sprain) and Toney Douglas (thigh contusion) — led to massive minute totals.
Rookie sensation Landry Fields, the second-round pick who plays like a veteran every night, logged 51 minutes, the most for an NBA rookie since Derrick Rose in 2009. Fields scored 16 points, with 11 rebounds and seven assists, and had two gigantic putbacks in OT.
Gallinari finished with 20 points on 7 of 12 shooting, making 4 of 9 3-pointers, but was torched by Prince, who finished with 31 points. Gallinari had a chance to win it at the buzzer in regulation, but bricked an open 3-pointer. He then drilled two straight treys to start the second OT and put the Knicks up by six. When Wilson Chandler (20 points) followed with another 3-pointer, the Knicks were up nine with 2:40 left and the marathon was clinched.
“We would’ve been halfway to New York if he hit the first one,” D’Antoni said. “He cost us 45 minutes.”
Gallinari kept up the joke in the giddy Knicks locker room. “Next time I’ll make sure I hit that so we can get home quickly,” Gallinari said.
Gallinari picked up a questionable foul on Prince in the final seconds of the first OT that led to a 3-point play, forcing a second OT. Prince scored on a 3-point play when he got a step on Gallinari, hit the layup and a ticky-tack foul was called on the Italian Stallion, who barely touched him.
“It was a tough call, but the first thing is I let him go left and let him do what he’s doing best,” Gallinari said. “I have to play better defense.”
Gallinari’s defense all game was poor; D’Antoni and Gallinari had a heated exchange in the second quarter after Gallinari didn’t pick up Ben Wallace on a pick and roll, as Wallace drove for an uncontested layup. D’Antoni yelled at him and Gallinari shot back, “I was late, I was late.”
Stoudemire was terrific all game and Felton caught fire in the fourth quarter with three big 3-pointers after missing his first six. Then Felton found Stoudemire in the first overtime for key hoops, setting the stage for Gallinari’s freedom at the perimeter.
“Amar’e is such a factor inside, they had to collapse on him,” D’Antoni said. “They did that, and give Raymond credit because they found the open shooter.”
The Knicks never relented despite Felton’s illness, Stoudemire’s ankle and the minutes mounting. Felton appeared weak in the locker room. “I wasn’t myself out there,” he said.