The compliments were flowing from the most important players in the Knicks' locker room.
Tyson Chandler was the first to stress the importance of how well Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire played. It was Stoudemire's turn next. He wanted to praise Anthony and Chandler before he headed for the showers. Then Anthony walked into the room and attributed his success — and the Knicks' for that matter — to how his teammates, in particular Chandler and Stoudemire, have sacrificed for one another.
The compliments from the Knicks' three highest-paid players were striking. It took more than a year for it to happen, but here they were — all excelling individually and collectively and proving to be the difference-makers in Wednesday's 113-97 victory over the Orlando Magic at Madison Square Garden.
The turning point of the game came when Coach Mike Woodson played the three, along with J. R. Smith and Raymond Felton, for five minutes in the third quarter. Anthony, Chandler and Stoudemire showed encouraging signs that they could coexist and thrive together.
"The third quarter was great," Stoudemire said. "We played great defensively, and we were able to get a good lead, and we also capitalized offensively."
When Stoudemire entered the game, the Knicks (28-15) led by 66-62 in a game that lack defensive intensity.
Stoudemire helped create a Magic turnover, Chandler did a better job of defending the paint and Anthony challenged jump shooters instead of leaking out on transition. The three players also slowed the game down, helping to quell the Magic's quick-shooting offense.
When Chandler went to the bench with 1 minute 12 seconds left in the quarter, the Knicks extended their lead to 77-70. The Magic were held to 8 points in that stretch.
"When us three are out there on the court, we're making a lot of things happen, offensive and defensively," Anthony said.
Before that stretch, Woodson was searching for a lineup that would provide some resistance to the Magic. Through the first 30 minutes of Wednesday's game, layups were easy to come by, 3-point shooters were wide open, and there were plenty of opportunities to score in transition.
Before the Knicks toughened up on defense, the Magic (14-31) scored at will with a two-guard combination of Jameer Nelson and J. J. Redick. Nelson, a point guard, drove past any defender Woodson put on him — Raymond Felton, Iman Shumpert or Pablo Prigioni — to score his 21 points. Meanwhile Redick, a shooting guard, made four 3-pointers to score a team-high 29 points.
Woodson was impressed that when he turned to Stoudemire, never known for his defense, the Knicks performed better.
"When those three were in there in the third quarter, we were a lot better defensively," Woodson said. "The beauty about having all three of them is that we should rebound better."
Before the game, Woodson said he planned on having Stoudemire play more with Anthony and Chandler. Stoudemire has also accepted his role coming off the bench since returning from surgery on his left knee to start the season.
"I'm willing to do whatever it takes to win," Stoudemire said. "I've accomplished a lot in my career so far. The next thing to accomplish is to win a championship, and whatever role I need to step into, I'm totally up for it as long as we win."
All three players were efficient on offense.
Anthony scored 20 points to set a team record with his 30th straight 20-point game. Richie Guerin scored 20 or more points in 29 games during the 1961-62 season.
"Any record that you have a chance to break or tie, that's the fun part," said Anthony, who also had seven rebounds. "It makes it fun out there when you know you're looking forward to something like that."
Chandler led the team with 21 points, while adding 7 rebounds and a season-high 5 assists. Stoudemire finished with 14 points (making all 7 of his shots) and 4 rebounds.
"I thought they played great off of each other," Woodson said. "Carmelo triggered a lot of that. Stoudemire has become a low-post threat. When he catches the ball down there, he's been able to produce. It's going to be huge for us."
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