PHOENIX — Amar’e Stoudemire’s Phoenix homecoming turned into a gigantic nightmare for the ailing Suns franchise and its owner Robert Sarver.
Stoudemire traveled to Phoenix last night and introduced his new point-guard sidekick, Raymond Felton, to his former fans in the Valley of the Sun.
The Stoudemire-Steve Nash combo is an ancient memory now and last night became the time for Phoenix fans to officially mourn its passing in one of the worst nights in the history of their franchise.
With Sarver sitting courtside and Suns fans booing in the second half, Stoudemire and Felton scorched the desert as the Knicks destroyed the Suns, 121-96, in a wire-to-wire romp at U.S. Airways Arena for their third straight victory. A giant round of boos cascaded down at the buzzer from the few fans still left. The Knicks led by as many as 34 points.
Stoudemire finished with 23 points and nine rebounds and Felton went for 23 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, notching his first career triple-double.
“I had one objective, and that was to dominate from the start,” Stoudemire said. “I got going early. We played great basketball. We stuck to our strategy and executed.”
Felton got his 10th rebound with six minutes left with the Knicks already leading by more than 30 points. Nash, on the other hand, left the court in a huff after the game without congratulating any of the Knicks.
“I knew he [Stoudemire] wanted this win,” Felton said. “It’s his homecoming game. It’s good to get a win like this.”
It also was a good homecoming for coach Mike D’Antoni, who had his battles with Sarver during his tenure in Phoenix.
This was miserable night for Sarver, sitting courtside as he singlehandedly dismantled the Suns, with allowing Stoudemire’s defection to New York the final nail in the Suns’ coffin. In the final minutes, Sarver was one of the few people left in the front row — the four seats to his left and right vacated. Some fans were chanting epitaphs at Sarver. The arena was three-quarters empty in the final minutes.
As Carmelo Anthony trade talks heat up for the Nets, Stoudemire and his Knicks plunge along swimmingly with the current cast. They moved to 21-14 last night and before the game Stoudemire didn’t sound like he felt the Knicks needed Anthony.
“We have a pretty solid team now,” Stoudemire said. “We don’t need much.”
During pregame introductions, Stoudemire received a loud ovation with many fans standing to cheer the former Suns All-Star. But soon they were booing — not Stoudemire but their depleted team that fell to 14-20.
Before the game, D’Antoni, who had his ups and downs dealing with Stoudemire in Phoenix, had nothing but praise for his center.
“He’s been unbelievable,” D’Antoni said. “He’s taken New York by storm. He saved my life.”
In the night’s signature play, Landry Fields blocked a shot, Felton pushed the ball and fed an alley-oop pass to Stoudemire for an emphatic fastbreak dunk with 5:59 left in the third quarter to put the Knicks up 23 points. Fields had a great night, 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting with 10 rebounds.
Things got ugly late. With 3:31 left Goran Dragic pulled down Anthony Randolph on a layup attempt. Timofey Mozgov got ejected for elbowing Robin Lopez after the questionably dirty Phoenix foul.
Shawne Williams came off the bench and was on fire with 15 points, making four 3-pointers.
The Knicks controlled the entire first half, taking a 55-45 lead, with Stoudemire finishing with 19 points. The amazing part is he didn’t seem to dominate the half and still racked up those numbers.