Knicks fix

Amar'e fit to be T'd

Amar'e Stoudemire made it through the final 26 games without picking up his 16th technical foul, which would have resulted in an automatic suspension.

Stoudemire was frustrated all season with the rash of T's -- especially early in the season when the NBA attempted to enforce a "respect for the game" edict that strictly punished visual outbursts at referees and just about any type of emotional reactions -- and had been tied with Dwight Howard for most of the season at the top of the league's list of offenders. His last technical foul came Feb. 23 against the Milwaukee Bucks, and coincidentally, that was Carmelo Anthony's debut game.

Stoudemire technically (sorry, couldn't resist) picked up his 16th tech March 10 in Dallas, when he and Brendan Haywood were T'd up, but the league rescinded the techs after a review showed referee Bob Delaney overreacted to a minor altercation. Stoudemire had the benefit of three rescinded technicals this season.

But all told, he paid a total of $45,000 in fines for the 15 technicals.

Now that the playoffs have begun, Stoudemire's tech count resets to zero. For the playoffs, a player is punished with an automatic one-game suspension when he picks up his seventh technical foul.

Chauncey's brief tour of Boston

Rick Pitino left Kentucky to take over the Celtics in 1997 with the idea that, after finishing with the NBA's worst record (15-67), Boston would be in line to win the first overall pick, which that year was Tim Duncan. Instead, the Spurs won the draft lottery and the Celtics fell to third. Their choice? A guard out of Colorado named Chauncey Billups.

But 52 games into his rookie season, Billups was traded by Pitino to the Raptors for Kenny Anderson. "Everybody kind of thought I hated Rick and Rick hated me," he said, "but that wasn't the case."

Billups says Pitino told him "that there was a lot of pressure on him to win and he needed to get a veteran point guard to try to help him do that. He basically didn't have time to let me learn from my mistakes."

The deal stunned Billups.

"The third pick in the draft, you feel like you're going to be there for nine, 10 or 11 years or maybe your whole career, like Paul [Pierce] has," Billups said.

Number crunching

Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 26.3 points per game in 27 games. He is the fifth different player in as many years to lead the team in scoring, which is an obvious sign of transition. The last time the Knicks had a player lead the team in scoring in consecutive seasons was 2003-04 to 2005-06, when Stephon Marbury led the way.

Stoudemire was the true scoring leader, however, with 1,971 points in 78 games. Stoudemire also finished as the team's top shooter (50.2 percent, minimum of 200 made), and led the team in minutes (2,870) and rebounding (8.2 per game).

Anthony finished third in the NBA in scoring and Stoudemire (25.3) was sixth. The last time two Knicks finished in the top 10 in NBA scoring was 1965-66, with Walt Bellamy (fifth) and Dick Barnett (seventh).

Magic hopes to get Dwight right

The 2012 countdown has apparently already started. Speculation has been rumbling about Dwight Howard, the biggest prize of the free agency class expected in 2012, and the belief that he has his sights set on leaving the Orlando Magic for a bigger market.

According to ESPN's Ric Bucher, Howard's focus has been on the Los Angeles Lakers and, get this, the Nets.

The Magic realizes it's on the clock and has tried to build a championship-caliber team around him. It would be a devastating blow to lose Howard, which would be similar to when Shaquille O'Neal left in 1996 to sign with the Lakers.

The Nets would be a very interesting landing point for Howard, especially if Deron Williams signs an extension before he can opt-out for 2012. On Thursday, Williams gave the Nets a reason to be optimistic when he told reporters, "I definitely can see myself staying here."

Around the NBA

As the Sacramento Kings were given another extension to apply for relocation, with intent to move to Anaheim, David Stern seemed to dismiss an effort by supermarket magnate Ron Burkle to buy the franchise with the intent of keeping it in Sacramento. "That's not a high priority on our agenda," Stern said after Friday's Board of Governors meeting in Manhattan ... Stern also said the league will present "a revised proposal" to the NBA players union "within the next couple of weeks." The clock is ticking, as the current collective-bargaining agreement expires June 30. A lockout looms this summer and there have been indications that the first casualty will be the annual NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, which usually is in mid-July ... If the Minnesota Timberwolves win the lottery, and they'll have an excellent chance, do they really pass on Kyrie Irving because they already have two young point guards in Jonny Flynn and Ricky Rubio?

Tweet of the week

@MoneyMase: Just finished a good practice. You can feel it in the air, Playoffs are here!