Here's what you learned going to the Garden Tuesday night: The Timberwolves aren't as good as their 9-37 record indicates, and the Knicks aren't going to join the Amare Stoudemire sweepstakes.
"It's up to us to keep this going for another 35 to 40 games, whatever it is," said Mike D'Antoni after his team's 132-105 victory. "Every once in a while, there should be an egg laid, but it can't be very often."
D'Antoni's team laid a big egg Sunday, getting hammered by the Mavs by 50. Makes you wonder what the final margin would have been if Jason Kidd had played. This one wasn't as one-sided, but it was not competitive from the opening tip.
"It's definitely tough when you're losing," said Minnesota's Jonny Flynn, the former Syracuse star who had a nightmare of a game with as many turnovers as points (six), while missing eight of 11 shots.
Flynn can expect another long night Wednesday, as the T-Wolves will be in Cleveland to take on LeBron James. Only a Cavs-Nets game would provide a bigger mismatch. "You're not only losing, you're not even in games," Flynn said of his rookie season. "That's something a lot of us are not used to. So you just have to use it as fuel and try to get past it."
Enough about the game.
This was a night to seek out Knicks president Donnie Walsh to pop the big question: Are you getting into the Stoudemire sweepstakes?
Across the Hudson, the Nets are trying to work a deal for Stoudemire because they're resigned to the fact that they're not going to be able to get James or Dwyane Wade this summer. That's the word from inside the Meadowlands, anyway. On this side of the Hudson, the Knicks aren't going to be players, from the looks of it. "I haven't talked to them," Walsh said. "Maybe now I will."
Walsh laughed at his own comment. He has his scouts in, from near and far, for meetings, and there will be lots of talk in the coming weeks about potential trades before the Feb. 18 deadline.
But it's a longshot that the Knicks could even get into the discussion with the Suns about Stoudemire, who can be a free agent this summer. Why not?
Ask yourself this: Who would the Suns want off the Knicks' roster?
A few weeks ago, Nets president Rod Thorn went on record saying he thought that one of this summer's marquee free agents would be moved by the deadline. Since James and Wade are not going anywhere in the next few weeks, that leaves Stoudemire and Toronto's Chris Bosh. Thorn wouldn't say who he thought would be moved, but the prospect of getting Stoudemire and ending up with John Wall in the draft has to be enticing for the Nets.
Part one involves Stoudemire getting moved.
"I could see it happening," Walsh said. "But usually, with a player like that, a trade doesn't happen at midseason. But if (the Suns) are not happy with their team, or they think they're going to lose him this summer, then maybe it could happen."
Just not to the Knicks. It's not that they don't have the money for a long-term deal for Stoudemire. They could sure use his scoring and athleticism up front, too.
But there's always been a question as to whether a team should make Stoudemire its highest-paid player when he's not a complete player, a true No. 1 star, or a leader. In that sense, he's risky, as D'Antoni could tell Walsh from personal experience.
In the meantime, Walsh has to investigate other opportunities. Tuesday night's laugher doesn't change the fact that the Knicks probably aren't going to make the playoffs. They've got a lot of ground to make up, the schedule gets more difficult after this easy stretch of six games and they've got a few teams ahead of them in the East for the final playoff spot.
Everything looks better, everybody plays better, when the opponent is Minnesota.
In any trade, Walsh isn't going to jeopardize the Knicks' No. 1 asset: Salary-cap space. "The way it's set up now, we're gonna have over $20 million for this summer," he said. "And we can get another guy next summer."
The money will be there, but not for Stoudemire.
He's all New Jersey's - if the Nets can just make a deal.
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