"Amar'e Stoudemire was frustrated, angry and confused long before he accidentally spilled a protein shake into his shoes.

That messy postgame incident Saturday only added to Stoudemire's angst and delayed his exit since he planned to wear those sneakers for the trip to Detroit. So while Stoudemire was investigating why an employee would place a paper cup in a place where it could easily fall, the Knicks' $100 million man was also trying to figure out why his teammates would have such low energy on a day when they could've jumped over the .500 mark.

"We had no energy from the start," Stoudemire said after Atlanta's 99-90 afternoon victory at the Garden ended the Knicks' five-game winning streak. "With these early games, sometimes it happens that way. We can't make any excuses. We have to be mentally ready for these early games and we were not."

The Knicks never held the lead and found themselves trailing by 20 late in the first half. They did get as close as four early in the final quarter before former Knick Jamal Crawford hit a 3-pointer that ignited a 21-8 run. The Hawks scored seven points on three straight possessions before Mike D'Antoni elected to call timeout.

The Knicks are now 8-9 heading into Sunday's matinee in Detroit and suddenly there are health concerns with their starting front line. Ronny Turiaf missed the second half with recurring soreness in his left knee and the veteran center says he's not sure if he'll be available against the Pistons. Two weeks ago, Turiaf suffered a sprained left knee and sat out three games.

Also, Stoudemire twisted his left ankle when he inadvertently collided with Josh Smith in the third quarter. Stoudemire walked gingerly to the bench, only to return three minutes later. He sounded confident that he would play Sunday; the Knicks might not stand much of a chance without him.

Stoudemire led all scorers with 24 points and added 10 rebounds. Landry Fields turned in a strong game at both ends, outscoring All-Star shooting guard Joe Johnson 15 to 7 and grabbing 11 rebounds. Raymond Felton added 18 points while Danilo Gallinari had a disappointing afternoon with just four points in 23 minutes.

Gallinari made just two of six shots and his inability to score from the perimeter allowed the Hawks to collapse in the paint. Atlanta converted 10 3-pointers compared to four for the Knicks."