Last time these teams played, the Knicks were still a "glass half full" team -- hovering close to .500, coming off of good wins against Sacramento, New Jersey and Detroit in early December. They played with great energy against the Suns (and subsequently against the Lakers), though they got off to a very slow start and had to play from behind for most of the game. The game itself was obviously a very emotional one for the Knicks and Coach D'Antoni with his first return to Phoenix after the rough divorce last summer.

I've maintained a certain degree of affection for the Suns,  even with the departure of many of the original SSOLers and the implementation of Terry Porter's system, though with the very busy start of the year and my League Pass issues, I haven't seen them play many games lately. It does seem that whenever I watch them these days, they have been losing close games in very difficult fashion, but it's nice to see Shaq back to playing at a high level, Nash likewise, and Jason Richardson and Matt Barnes have been outstanding pickups. On the other hand, Amare (my least favorite Sun) remains a puzzling player, though I wouldn't be surprised to see him have his way with the Knicks' undersized front line tonight -- he's always a threat to completely tear apart the opposition.

This game concerns me because the Suns got totally waxed by the Celtics the other night, and they will be coming into the Garden hungry to make up for such a sorry effort in Boston -- no chance the Knicks catch them a little apathetic or tired (unlike the Hornets a week ago). Things to watch for:

* Gunning From Outside -- Last time the Knicks played the Suns, they had their worst effort from the 3 point line, shooting 5 for 37, capped by an atrocious 1 for 10 by Nate and Duhon, QRich and Chandler combining to miss all 11 of their attempts. D'Antoni teams are stereotyped for gunning in this manner, but the coach still wants good shots, not chucking with no conscience (cough Nate cough). I need to look at the numbers more closely, but more recently, the Knicks seem to fare better when they are attempting between 20 and 24 3s a game -- when they start hovering in the 30 range, it's bad news. Only the recent game against the Wizards in Washington featured a major regression to 38 threes attempted, and we all know how that ended.

* Playing Time for the Small Forwards -- Surprisingly, Gallinari got extended minutes against the Bulls at the expense of Chandler, presumably because D'Antoni wanted a bigger, more aggressive lineup against the Bulls down the stretch, and perhaps he was sending a message to WC to be more aggressive when he does play. I'm very fond of Danilo's early contributions, but I think he'll have a tough time with the athleticism of the Suns, so I wouldn't be surprised to see WC get more burn tonight.

* Health -- Lee and Duhon were very banged up in the last game, but both are scheduled to play and the injuries are being downplayed. For the Knicks to have a chance against the athletically superior Suns, Chris and David are going to have to be able to provide big minutes and show more mobility and ability to finish than they did the other day against the Bulls.

This will be either a total rout by a re-energized Suns team or a close game with the Knicks having a pretty good chance to pull it out. I actually have a good feeling about this one given the Suns' tendency to play down to their opposition and their defense still not being where it should be given Porter is now the coach, but a lot of it will come down to the Knicks energy level and their health.