Somehow you couldn’t help but think Knicks coach Mike Woodson had his fingers crossed behind his back whenever he talked confidently about Amar’e Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler and Carmelo Anthony being productive while all on the court at the same time.
There were questions whether they could mesh without getting in each other’s way. Stoudemire’s presence would crowd Chandler. Stoudemire’s touches would take away from Anthony’s, and Anthony would not have the benefit of having bigger, slower power forwards guarding him. Those were the concerns.
The skeptics have been quieted, at least for the moment, after witnessing how the Big Three spearheaded a third-quarter rally that vaulted the Knicks to a 96-86 victory over the Bucks last night at the Garden.
Woodson has been playing the trio together more and more since Stoudemire returned from a left-knee injury. Recent stretches produced encouraging results.
“As that lineup plays more together they’ll become more comfortable with one another,” Woodson said before the game. “I think they played great off each other [in Wednesday’s win over the Magic] and Melo triggered a lot of that with the ball in his hands.”
The chemistry reached another level last night as the trio rallied the Knicks from a 59-57 deficit when Stoudemire entered the game at 7:28 of the third quarter into a 74-73 lead heading into the final quarter. Chandler put an exclamation point on the surge with a resounding dunk that left the Knicks up 82-75.
Still, this game was won in the third quarter with Stoudemire and Chandler flexing their muscles inside and Anthony doing what he does best: score. Anthony finished with 25 points, while Stoudemire had 17 points and five rebounds in 24 minutes and earned a loud ovation every time he left the floor. Chandler had 20 rebounds and nine points.
“You just play the game,” Stoudemire said of the trio’s performance. “And when you play the game that way, it just comes to us. We take what the defense gives us. We’ve done a great job of defending and also scoring.”
Anthony had 10 points in the third quarter, and Chandler collected nine of his rebounds in the period. Stoudemire was an active presence on both ends of the floor as the Bucks were limited to just 33 points in the second half.
Stoudemire was particularly impressed with Chandler’s performance. He sensed an impact game coming from the All-Star center during warm-ups when Chandler was dunking the ball with authority.
“I told him, ‘You’ve got a lot of spring in your legs,’ ” Stoudemire said. “Then he was at 18 rebounds and I told him he needed to give us two more. Getting 20 rebounds is a huge accomplishment.”
Chandler was just as impressed with Stoudemire.
“Amar’e was incredible,” Chandler said. “To see the type of numbers he has been able to put up in limited minutes. He’s only playing 25 minutes a night, but he’s putting up 17 points, getting 10 rebounds, going to the free-throw line and causing double teams. He’s been great, especially coming off the bench and providing that kind of punch. That says a lot about his character. He just wants to win.”
The production of the three players may soon raise the question of when Woodson might consider starting Stoudemire if for no other reason than to prevent the series of slow starts that have plagued the Knicks recently. The Knicks trailed 28-25 after the first quarter and 53-47 at halftime.
Woodson does not seem tempted to do that just yet, preferring the energy Stoudemire brings off the bench.
“If we played like we did in the third and fourth quarter, we would have won going away,” Woodson said.
He can thank the cohesiveness of Stoudemire, Chandler and Anthony that the Knicks won at all.