The Knicks put down the Suns previously this month by excelling from beyond the arc, as Amare Stoudemire made his come back to the desert during the starting game of a 4 game journey away from home.
The Suns may see a somewhat less confident Knicks club as they start a 5 game trek at MSG.
The Knicks turned in its worst shooting effort of the year during a shocking defeat upon Coming back to their home court, a performance it will attempt to prevent replicating Monday versus Phoenix.
New York ( 22 - 17 ) nailed 17 of 33 three point shots as they defeat the Suns 121 - 96 on January 7th, & Stoudemire was upstaged by his own teammate during his highly expected come back to Phoenix. Getting his 1st career triple-double, Raymond Felton equaled Stoudemire having twenty-three points & additionally posted eleven assists & ten boards
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The Knicks appeared rather spent during their come back to MSG on Friday after losing 2 of 3 to close their recent roar trip, Felton put in a low for the year and this was easily their worst mark of the year. He got 6 points on 2 of 15 from the floor at 31/5% during a 93 - 83 defeat to the worst team in the Western Conference, Sacramento.
Stoudemire is shooting 34.2 % since helping defeat the Suns ( 17 - 21 ).
New York may get a large boost as they are trying for a 3rd consecutive home court victory against the Suns. Danilo Gallinari, who's missed the previous 6 matchups having a sprained left knee, is likely to come back.
Gallinari had twenty-seven points & ten boards while shooting 6 of 12 from beyond the arc in Phoenix's previous trip to MSG, a 126 - 99 the Knicks victory Dec. 1, 2009.
New York have been awfully hard to beat when the forward is contributing from 3 point range. They are 16 - 4 when Gallinari hits a minimum of 2 3-pointers.
The Suns have dropped 4 consecutive on the road, however they will hit the road with a few momentum. Phoenix came back from 11 down following 3 quarters to beat New Jersey 118 - 109 in OT Wednesday, & put in 53.8 % during a 115 - 111 victory against Portland on Friday.
In spite of a hard 1st half of the year while adjusting to life not having Stoudemire, the Suns are 2 out of the final West playoff position.
Steve Nash, who's put in 22.0 points & 15 in Phoenix's 3 victories this month, has put in 12 versus New York since the start of the 2007 - 08 year - his 2nd - worst average versus any club in that period.