Game of the night: New York Knicks against the Phoenix Suns
Mike D'Antoni image by holidaygolight via flickr.
Mike D’Antoni will be facing his old team for the first time tonight as he tries to lead his New York Knicks against the Phoenix Suns. Both teams have gone opposite directions this year as the Knicks are looking like a team finally making the playoffs after years of missing it while the Suns look like a borderline playoff team after years of dominance.
It would be interesting to see how Steve Nash will play with a different lineup from a year ago against his former coach, who’s system helped Nash win back to back MVP.
I feel like I’ve been traded,” Nash said, chuckling. “I feel like I’m on a different team because everything’s changed so much around here. We have a lot of differences now after quite a bit of stability but change can really be positive. Amidst that recent chaos could come strong order. We’re all optimistic but it’s a strange point with Mike coming and all the changes.
Gone are the days where they averaged 58 wins in each of the last four seasons and also gone are the core players who have played under D’Antoni’s “seven seconds or less” system. The only ones left are Nash, Amar’e and Barbosa. The Suns, under coach Terry Porter, are still looking for its identity.They have stressed defense and that led to different moves in the past 10 months but everything hasn’t gone the way the management wants it to be.
The Knicks also had made changes in their roster but everyone is responding well. They have been enjoying playing for D’Antoni and have resulted in more wins than they were at this point last season. The Garden is rocking again and their run and gun game has elevated a lot of their players game especially of Chris Duhon who is averaging a career high 8.4 assists (tied with Steve Nash).
“Our team is on a mission, we’re trying to win as many games as possible,” guard Nate Robinson said. “This system is the best, we’re having a lot of fun right now.”
No matter who wins tonight it will definitely be a great game. D’antoni will use everything he has in his offensive playbook while Terry Porter uses everything he’s got on the defensive end. If I may make a prediction, I’m still liking the Suns on this one. Suns, 112-105.
Fantasy Outlook:
Phoenix - Shaq will be able to score early but won’t be able to match up with New York’s speed and will end up playing less minutes. Steve Nash will have a big game tonight with scoring and assists. It hasn’t been a great season for him but maybe this game wakes him up and we could see a little of that Nash we know. Amar’e Stoudemire will play mostly at center and will score at will against David Lee but might rebound less. Jason Richardson, even if it’s just his second game for the Suns, will play major minutes and score at least 20. Hopefully Barbosa can also make this a game that ignites his mediocre season. He will be needed to match up against speedy guard Nate Robinson.
New York – Duhon will have around 10 assists tonight while Nate Robinson will try to outrun Grant Hill and Matt Barnes when they’re on the court. David Lee, as long as Shaq is sitting down, will have his way with the boards on his way to another double double. Q Rich, coming from a flu, will have a great game with at least 2 threes. Al Harrington is on a roll lately and will likely continue with at least 20 points and 2 threes. Wilson Chandler will have a solid game with around 15 points and 7 rebounds.
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