Amar'e, Melo excel in rout of Raptors

All the pressure was off Tuesday night. For the first time in 76 games, it didn't really matter whether the Knicks won or lost. They didn't need to bring their 'A' game to Madison Square Garden; they didn't even really need to bring their 'A' team.

You wouldn't have known that, however, from the way the Knicks jumped all over the Raptors en route to a 131-118 win, their fourth in a row.

The game was decided before many Knicks fans had taken off their raincoats and settled into their seats. The Knicks opened by taking a 13-0 lead with the most dominant four minutes of basketball that have been seen in Madison Square Garden in quite some time.

It wasn't just the points that were impressive. It was how the Knicks were getting them. Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony, the superstars who don't always look so super together, came out with a determination that has to scare the teams sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference.

In the first four minutes, Stoudemire stole the ball, made a free throw, knocked down a 16-footer and made a perfect assist to Anthony, who was unguarded on the perimeter. In that same time period, Anthony stole the ball and hit back-to-back three- pointers. The Knicks' two biggest players were saying they wanted to have a big night, which is exactly what Mike D'Antoni had been hoping to see.

D'Antoni had talked about resting Stoudemire and other players some during the six games before the playoffs, but what his team needed most was to keep playing together, keep coming together as a group.

"I think it's good, better than it was two weeks ago," D'Antoni said before the game about the chemistry between the two stars. "Is this the best that it'll be? I hope not. But I think it's good.''

Stoudemire finished with 23 points, six rebounds and five assists. Anthony, who was 5-for-6 from three-point range in the first half, had 23 points and nine rebounds.

"They're looking for each other, the ball is moving better, the pace is better," D'Antoni said. "I think they're very comfortable. When one has to sit down and the other is on the floor, the spotlight is on that guy and they understand it. I think they're coexisting pretty good."

D'Antoni and Knicks president Donnie Walsh have said these final games are about getting the team playoff ready. Their positioning really doesn't matter, because the race at the top of the East is so tight that it's too hard to predict where the Knicks want to finish to get the most favorable opponent. Or even who that may be.

One thing is for sure, however. The Knicks are the team at the bottom of the bracket that no one seems to want.