The only solace to another horrific Garden evening is maybe Steve Nash will be doing this for the Knicks next season and not against them.
Sore-wristed Carmelo Anthony could not have been more awful and Amar’e Stoudemire wasn’t much better. Anthony did not speak afterward. A team official claimed Anthony had a “family issue’’ to go along with his massive shooting slump.
Nash, whom the Knicks have targeted to fill their point-guard void next summer, was by far the best player in Manhattan last night and carried the Suns to a 91-88 victory at the angry Garden.
The reeling Knicks have lost four straight and embattled Mike D’Antoni said they are “in a little bit of a crisis.’’
Nash, the SoHo resident who called last night’s game “a homecoming in some ways,’’ was 6 of 6 from the free-throw line in the final 16.9 seconds to finish off a 26-point, 11-assist masterpiece and hold off the Knicks’ late flurry. Nash was 9 of 12 from the floor.
A brief “We Want Woodson’’ chant was heard from the 400 level in the final minute — a reference to defensive coach Mike Woodson. D’Antoni, in the final year of his pact, may not have staying power if his offense doesn’t awake after point guard Baron Davis returns, possibly on next week’s road trip. But right now, the famed speed-ball attack is in the dumpster.
“I don’t think I have it in my vocabulary,’’ D’Antoni said, referring to his offense that shot 37.2 percent. “We know we’re 6-8. We know we’re in a little bit of a crisis, but the good thing is they’re playing hard. We have won every statistical category, except we can’t put the ball in the basket.’’
The Knicks haven’t shot above 41.7 percent in each of the last seven games.
“That’s one part that should be the easiest,’’ D’Antoni said. “I’m not understanding how we can score [just] 88 points, and that’s good for us now.’’
Anthony finished 5 of 22 for 12 points and is 35 of 102 in his last five games. Stoudemire was 7 of 22, finishing with an empty 23 points.
A rail-thin club can’t win when their scoring tandem is that horrible, even with defense and rebounding. Center Tyson Chandler dominated with 17 rebounds and the Knicks outboarded the 5-9 Suns, 54-38 .
Former mates, Nash and Stoudemire, talked on the court after the game. Maybe Stoudemire was begging Nash to come this summer.
“It’s not fun,’’ slump-ridden Stoudemire said. “I’ve been a winner my whole career and losing is definitely not fun. ‘’
No one knows what owner James Dolan is thinking because he saves his comments for the mighty Rangers. Tuesday night, Dolan boasted the Rangers were “close’’ to winning the Stanley Cup. All Dolan could claim last night — if he had spoken — was the 6-8 Knicks are “close’’ to the .500 mark.
“It is killing us,’’ D’Antoni said. “The flow is not happening.’’
Rookie Iman Shumpert helped lead a late charge, finishing with 20 points. After Shumpert hit a 3-pointer to slice the deficit to one, Nash hit two more free throws with 6.1 seconds left. In one last gap to tie, with the Knicks out of timeouts, Shumpert scrambled upcourt and flung a 35-foot, off-balance 3-pointer that missed everything, ending the evening in despair for the Garden faithful.