Amare, Felton (triple-double) lead Knicks

PHOENIX - When Amar'e Stoudemire left here for New York, the question was whether he still could play at an All-NBA level without Steve Nash. After Stoudemire and the Knicks trounced the Suns, 121-96, on Friday night, the question is whether Nash can survive without Stoudemire.

Two-time MVP Nash's Suns are now a shell of the team they used to be, a disintegration that began when Mike D'Antoni left in 2008 and was completed after Stoudemire followed his coach to New York this past summer.

"I knew it wasn't going to be the same once I left,'' said Stoudemire, who had 23 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots in 31:22 and received a warm ovation from the fans. "I just didn't know how great the impact was going to be.''

The win was the third straight for the Knicks (21-14), who snapped a seven-year losing streak in Phoenix. Their last win here came Feb. 14, 2003, when Stoudemire was a rookie, D'Antoni was an assistant coach and Nash was in Dallas.

And as for missing Nash? Not when Raymond Felton has played at an All-Star level for most of this season. Felton recorded his first career triple-double - and the first of the season by the Knicks - with 23 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in 37:35.

The feat does come with an asterisk because D'Antoni re-inserted Felton with the Knicks up by 30 points in the fourth quarter just to get the one rebound he needed to complete the coveted trifecta. Felton, who admitted he "sorta, kinda'' knew, snared that final rebound with 5:47 left in the game off a three-point miss by Goran Dragic (17 points). The Knicks led 112-79 at the time.

D'Antoni said he "probably shouldn't have'' put Felton (and, it's worth noting, Stoudemire) back into the game with such a large lead, but he said he didn't want the game to get sloppy and the team to go into Sunday's game against the Lakers that way. Plus, of course, Felton had one more rebound to go, so . . .

"It would be too bad just because he didn't play the last nine minutes,'' D'Antoni said.

Vince Carter had 19 points to lead the Suns (14-20), who are reeling with seven losses in their nine games since the Dec. 18 trade that sent Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu and Earl Clark to the Magic and essentially gutted the roster. Nash had only 14 points and nine assists in 27:51.

The Knicks - who are 18-6 since their 3-8 start - had six players in double figures, including a double-double by rookie Landry Fields (14 points, 10 rebounds). Wilson Chandler had 16 points, Shawne Williams 15 and Toney Douglas 11.

The Knicks shot 17-for-33 from three-point range, with the first figure representing a season high for them. It was the second-most three-pointers in franchise history, two shy of the record.

All 12 players got into the game and one had to leave early, as Timofey Mozgov was ejected for a Flagrant Two foul for elbowing Robin Lopez in the face with 3:31 left. Mozgov's elbow appeared to be inadvertent, as he was reacting to Lopez trying to swipe the ball from his hands after a whistle. The league likely will review the play to assess the need for further punishment or, perhaps, to downgrade the foul to a Flagrant One.

The game opened with both teams going with small lineups, as Alvin Gentry started Josh Childress at center and went with Grant Hill against Stoudemire. D'Antoni countered by moving Douglas into the starting lineup to go with a three-guard alignment rather than use Ronny Turiaf at center, as he did Tuesday against the Spurs.

Small-ball turned into a perimeter game that the Knicks resoundingly won. Felton led the way with 5-for-10 shooting from beyond the arc. He scorched the Suns' defenders, who - worried about Stoudemire - consistently went under the screens on the pick-and-roll, allowing Felton the space to get off his shot.

Williams shot 4-for-9 from three-point range, including consecutive corner threes in the third quarter in the midst of a 14-0 run as the Knicks turned a 63-54 lead into a 77-54 advantage. A three-pointer by Williams made it 115-81 with 5:16 remaining.

With Suns owner Robert Sarver in the front row, D'Antoni won for the first time in Phoenix since he parted ways with the franchise in April 2008 and Stoudemire won big in his first game back.

"I had one objective,'' Stoudemire said, "and that was to dominate from the start.''

It was domination to the finish - and, perhaps, the official end of the Suns as he, D'Antoni and even Nash knew them.