BOSTON — Knicks coach Mike Woodson kept predicting we would see the old Amar’e Stoudemire and last night was the closest version yet.
Stoudemire looked like lightning for much of the night as he had his season’s best performance with 15 points, nine rebounds and two blocks in the Knicks’ 89-86 victory over the Celtics. He had an efficient game, shooting 4 of 7 from the field and making 7 of 8 free throws in 20:28.
Stoudemire looks ready to move into the starting lineup for sure and Woodson may have opened the door a crack to that possibility when he said Wednesday Jason Kidd would move to the bench soon after Raymond Felton returned.
“I feel great,’’ Stoudemire said. “I’ve improved defensively, rebounded tonight with force and I knew my offense was going to come. I have no worries. I keep improving.
Yesterday marked Stoudemire’s 10th game of the season. He sat most of the fourth until Woodson got back to him, and he made a huge tip-in with 3:23 left that put the Knicks up four.
“He’s more active now,’’ Woodson said. “Obviously his [left] knee is starting to get a lot better. I was only able to give him 20 minutes and he was wondering why I didn’t get him back in there, but he hung in there with me and when he did get back in, he made a great offensive play.’’
Stoudemire surged in the second quarter. Stoudemire made a gorgeous spin move out of the post for a layup. He blocked a shot, then soared on a fastbreak with Pablo Prigioni, finishing it off with a baseline drive and monstrous reverse stuff. blocking two shots, even getting tagged for two goaltending calls in the first half.
Stoudemire finished with 11 points and seven rebounds by halftime in 13:50. The hesitancy in his prior games was gone.
Woodson wouldn’t commit to Stoudemire as a starter, but said yesterday he now has “more options’’ when Felton returns.