Suns a blast from Mike D'Antoni's past
Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni, left, is greeted by Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash. (Dec. 15, 2008) Credit: AP
GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Mike D'Antoni will get a chance to look at his past, present and possibly future Wednesday night when the Knicks host his old team, the Phoenix Suns.
The Suns still run D'Antoni's offense under point guard Steve Nash, so much so that Carmelo Anthony said Wednesday night's game "will probably be like a very intense practice."
The Knicks, losers of three straight, are 6-7. The Suns went into Tuesday night with a 4-8 record and Nash having to shoulder too much of the scoring load. He was the team's second-leading scorer at 13.2 points per game and was averaging 10.1 assists.
"They have a nice, free-flowing offense," D'Antoni said. "Nash is one of the best. They run our offense and we run their offense. However way you want to look at it. Maybe we'll learn how to run it."
D'Antoni was laughing when he said that last sentence. But he's not happy with the team's offense, which was ranked 15th in the league at 93.9 points per game after Monday's 102-93 loss to the Magic.
"It was a positive step offensively," D'Antoni said. "Still not good enough. We need to be one of the top 10 teams offensively. We're not there."
The Suns, who visited the Bulls in Chicago Tuesday night, were 16th in scoring at 93.8 points per game going into that contest. Nash, who turns 38 next month, is in the last year of his contract and has an apartment in New York, said last week he might have trouble handling a down season in Phoenix.
"At this point they want me to stay for as long as I want," Nash told ESPN.com. "And I'd like to stay. But you just never know. This is a business that changes every day. They could change their philosophy and I understand that . . . If we continue to struggle, that's not the type of thing I can handle easily, but I can't predict what that would do to the situation from my perspective or from the front office's perspective."
The Knicks, with rookie Iman Shumpert starting at the point, are waiting for veteran Baron Davis (back) to take over the spot, possibly as soon as next week.
If Davis isn't able to come back healthy or doesn't inspire when he returns, Nash-to-the-Knicks would be a logical thought -- if not in a trade this season, then as a free agent before next. But there's a long way to go before that becomes reality more than fantasy for this season because of Nash's $11.7-million salary.
D'Antoni, who said it's "fun" to coach against his old team, isn't thinking about that kind of reunion at the moment.
"I've got my troubles," he said. "I'll think about the Knicks for a while."
Notes & quotes: Anthony worked at changing his shot angle at practice to compensate for his sore left wrist. He missed Saturday's game at Oklahoma City because of the wrist and a sprained right ankle. He aggravated the ankle in the final minutes Monday but said he expects to play Wednesday night . . . The Knicks assigned little-used C Jerome Jordan and G Jeremy Lin to Erie of the NBA Development League.
