Knicks outrun, defeat Spurs, NBA's top team

The Spurs had been making people reach for history books, to see just where they ranked among the NBA's all-time best starts. It turns out they ranked pretty high until they brought their heady 29-4 start into the Garden. The Knicks stopped it.

Sure, the standings show that the Spurs are the best team in the league this year but everything else said they weren't the best team on the court Tuesday night. The Knicks outdid the Spurs in every phase of the game, even demoralizing them toward the end of their own heady 128-115 win.

With 3:25 left, after a spirited Knicks run featuring some long jumpers by Raymond Felton, capped by a short jumper by Amar'e Stoudemire off an offensive rebound by Landry Fields, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich jumped out of his seat and sent his scrubs in to replace future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan and the rest of the regulars.

Duncan, with 14 points and six rebounds, was no match for Stoudemire (28 points and nine rebounds), Wilson Chandler (a season-high 31 points) and the rest of a team that is off to a stirring start of its own (20-14).

"You could tell from the layup line we were totally focused and ready to go," Stoudemire said, referring to pregame practice. "With the effort we showed tonight and the smartness we played with, we can do phenomenal things."

It was borderline phenomenal that the Knicks scored with such ease despite having lost one of their best scorers, sharpshooting small forward Danilo Gallinari, out with a sprained knee. "It wasn't as easy as it may have seemed," Stoudemire said. "We were playing well, but we really had to play smart because they're a great defensive team."

Well, not so much on this night. "Our defense," Popovich said, "was pathetic."

In fact, for much of the first half, the team that was chasing one of the top all-time starts in NBA history looked like it was trying to make ABA history. With the score 72-69 Knicks at intermission, you would have thought George Gervin still was in the lineup. Only once before in the Duncan era had the Spurs allowed more points in a half; that was 74 in a game way back in 1997. "We both would have liked to stop each other more, but it wasn't going to happen," said Mike D'Antoni, the Knicks coach who played in the ABA.

Credit the Knicks with having something to do with the pace. "They made us play their game instead of us making them play our game," said Duncan, whose game at 34 isn't what it was when the Spurs were winning four NBA titles, but still was imposing through 33 games.

Knicks point guard Raymond Felton played his game, bouncing back from three uneven performances to score 28 points on 10-for-17 shooting. "He's a guy who will rise to the occasion," D'Antoni said.

Most of the Knicks deferred credit to Chandler, who moved from power forward to small forward in Gallinari's absence (Ronny Turiaf started at center, Stoudemire moved to the big forward spot). D'Antoni had been somewhat concerned about how Chandler would handle the shift, but realized quickly he didn't have to. "I think they focused on Amar'e so I took the shots that were open," Chandler said, matter-of-factly. In fact, the Knicks were pleased but not bouncing off the walls after finally holding off an elite team (after close losses to the Celtics, Heat and Magic).

"It just shows," Felton said, "how good we really can be."

Hey, it's a start.