This time, Knicks top elite opponent

With 3:13 left, the best team in the NBA surrendered the Garden floor. With a date in Boston against the Celtics Wednesday night, Gregg Popovich pulled his starters, his foundation of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. For them, the next night, against the best in the East, was a bigger game.

But on this night, beating the best was the biggest it has come so far this season for the Knicks.

"We've had a lot of them,'' Mike D'Antoni said of the latest statement win, a 128-115 upset over the Spurs. "This is a good win.''

Eventually, one of these games is going to mean something significant. In late November and early December, the run of 13 wins in 14 games was slapped with the asterisk of an easy schedule of losing teams. The losses that came against the East's elite - twice to Miami and once to Boston and Orlando - were evidence of a team that just wasn't there yet.

But a win like this - especially just before the team takes the road for four straight out west and seven of nine away from the Garden - does make the charter seem to fly smoother to Phoenix, where on Friday, Amar'e Stoudemire will make a triumphant return to the Valley of the Sun.

They wondered if Stoudemire could still play at an All-NBA level without Steve Nash. With 28 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three blocks against Duncan and the Spurs, Stoudemire is instead playing at an MVP level. Though Knicks fans dream of eventually seeing Carmelo Anthony in orange and blue, the more you watch Wilson Chandler play, the more you wonder how the Knicks can possibly hold on to him and still acquire Anthony.

"Wilson Chandler had a phenomenal game,'' Stoudemire said of Chandler's 31 points. "They had no answer for him.''

SEE PHOTOSTop 10 Knicks ever

The Spurs had very few answers for anything the Knicks threw at them, as it was one of the most dominant offensive performances - considering the opponent - of the season. The Knicks tied a season high with 72 points by halftime and, more notably, committed only six turnovers for the entire game despite a pace that made Duncan look old and the usually defensively solid Spurs look pedestrian on defense. They shared the ball with 26 assists on 50 field goals. And, with D'Antoni defiantly sticking to his small-ball attack - perhaps pacifying the naysayers by starting 6-10 Ronny Turiaf at center - the Knicks overwhelmed San Antonio under a barrage of open shots.

"They made us play their game,'' Duncan said, "instead of us making them play our game.''

As much as the toe-to-toe fight last month with Boston, which ended just a tick too soon before Stoudemire launched that potentially game-winning three-pointer, and those furious rallies against the Heat and Magic last week were evidence that this Knicks team was for real, a win was still needed to underscore their ascent into a legitimate team.

LeBron James offered patronizing pats on the back when he said the Knicks are now a team you have to prepare for. What the Knicks need to do is become a team the opponent doesn't want to credit so quickly. They need to become the team you don't pull your starters against because the next night is more important to you.

"They're not a dangerous team, they are a good team and there's a big difference,'' Popovich said of the Knicks. "They are solid, they are playing their roles, they are playing together, they are communicating and the physicality was impressive . . . I'm happy for Mike. He had to go through some tough stuff, but they obviously turned the corner and it's wonderful for him, the players and the organization. They are obviously going in the right direction.''