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Suns cruise past sorely depleted Knicks
2007-11-14
Amare Stoudemire had his best night since his arthroscopic knee surgery six weeks ago with 26 points and 12 rebounds, and the Phoenix Suns beat the severely depleted New York Knicks 113-102 on Tuesday night. The Knicks were without three starters, including Stephon Marbury, who abruptly left the team earlier in the day and reportedly returned to New York as the Knicks opened a four-game road trip. Phoenix had four starters with at least 21 points. Shawn Marion scored 23 and Grant Hill 21, his most in his eight games with Phoenix. Hill was 7-for-8 from the field, 3-of-4 on 3-pointers. Leandro Barbosa, starting in place of injured Raja Bell, added 23 for the Suns, who shot 56 percent and won their third in a row. Steve Nash didn't get his first field goal until 10:04 remained in the game. He finished with five points and 12 assists. Phoenix led by as many as 17 in the second quarter, 19 in the third and 21 in the fourth. In addition to Marbury, New York was without Quentin Richardson (hyperextended right elbow) and Zach Randolph (death of his grandmother), then lost Marbury's replacement, Mardy Collins, with a mild sprain of his right foot six minutes into the game. Jamal Crawford, one of the remaining New York starters, scored 21. Fred Jones added 19 and Nate Robinson 18. Eddy Curry scored 17 before fouling out with 7:45 to play. WNBC New York and The New York Post reported Marbury sent them messages to say he had Thomas' permission to leave the team. "I would never leave my team on my own," Marbury told The Post. "What I'm telling you is that I got permission to leave from Isiah. He said I could go home." Thomas would not confirm that he allowed Marbury to leave. The Knicks' coach avoided the subject altogether in his meeting with reporters before the game. Stoudemire had sat out three games with swelling in his right knee, the result of the surgery, and had played just 21 1/2 minutes combined in his first two games back. But he was lively and on target from the start on Tuesday. He scored 12 in the first quarter and 18, with nine rebounds, in the first half. He finished 8-for-14 from the field and 10-for-14 from the foul line. Phoenix was up 62-45 after Stoudemire's fadeaway 13-footer with 1:36 left in the half, but the Knicks finished the quarter with a 7-1 run. Marion's 3-pointer put the Suns up 76-58 with 6:51 left in the third, and Phoenix led 85-66 after Boris Diaw's soft over-the-shoulder pass to Marion for a dunk. Notes:@ Bell missed his second game in a row with a sprained right ankle. ... Richardson has not played in Phoenix since he was traded to the Knicks after the 2004-05 season. ... New York last won in Phoenix on Feb. 13, 2003. Marbury, then with the Suns, scored 43 points in that game. ... The Knicks' Jared Jeffries made his first regular-season appearance. He had been sidelined with a sprained right ACL and bone bruise.
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