When: 7:30 P.M.
Where: MSG
Watch: MSG

Starting Lineups:
Suns (23-16)
PG- Steve Nash
SG- Jason Richardson
SF- Grant Hill
PF- Amare Stoudemire
C- Shaq
Rest of rotation: L Barbosa, R Lopez, L Amundson, M Barnes

Knicks (16-24)
PG: Chris Duhon
SG: Quentin Richardson
SF: Wilson Chandler
PF: Jared Jeffries
C: David Lee
Rest of Rotation: Nate Robinson, Tim Thomas, Al Harrington, Danilo Gallinari

Injuries:

Suns-

Knicks: OUT: Eddy Curry (?)

GAME NOTES

Last time they played, the Diesel seemed to turn back the clock about 5 years and dominated the grossly undersized Knick front line. How can you stop that? My opinion is that so long as Shaq doesn’t get the ball, he cannot score the ball. Fronting the big man is no easy task, and because the Suns have a bunch of offensive threats, the Knicks will likely get burnt from throwing too many double teams at Shaq.

The Suns are clearly a different team than they were under D’Antoni. They play a slower, more methodical game than they did in the past. Tonight in the Garden, the Knicks have to remind them of the old days and run them tirelessly. Tire Nash out. Make Shaq lumber down the court, trailing David Lee on fast breaks. Throw Q Rich back on the blocks offensively, and make Jason Richardson expend energy trying to push Q around.

Like most games, the Knicks need for Al Harrington and Nate Robinson to be “X” factors tonight. Nate has been slumping in terms of his shot and his decision making. Time for him to snap out of it in front of the home crowd.

Coming off a strong MLK Day victory on Monday, it is time for the Knicks to step out of the shadows of mediocrity and towards a serious playoff push. Before the first game of the Wizards double header, I said that I wanted the Knicks to go 4-2 over their next six. They have two games left in that stretch and they have already used their allotted quota of losses. Time to step up and show the league what this team is made of.