"The only solace to another horrific Garden evening is maybe Steve Nash will be doing this for the Knicks next season and not against them.

Sore-wristed Carmelo Anthony could not have been more awful and Amar'e Stoudemire wasn't much better. Anthony did not speak afterward. A team official claimed Anthony had a "family issue'' to go along with his massive shooting slump.

Nash, whom the Knicks have targeted to fill their point-guard void next summer, was by far the best player in Manhattan last night and carried the Suns to a 91-88 victory at the angry Garden."