While the red-hot New York Knicks (12-4) have remained undefeated at home after beating the Phoenix Suns (7-11) 106-99 on Sunday at Madison Square Garden, word around the league is reinforcements could be coming for the Knicks as a Christmas Day gift.
Six-time NBA All-Star Amar'e Stoudemire is planning to return to the team by Dec. 25, sources told ESPN recently. The story was first broken by the New York Post.
Stoudemire's return would come at a timely point for the Knicks, who are scheduled to face Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and the Los Angeles Lakers--coached by former Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni--on Dec. 25.
Stoudemire did some running and shooting drills Friday morning at the Knicks' training facility, as well as several leg strength excersizes. Friday marked the first time the media had seen him working out since his surgical procedure.
"We're going to accept Amar'e back when he's ready to go, and when that is, I don't know. I really don't," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said afterwards. "That's a great sign he's out running and he's shooting a little bit. We're just going to gauge it as he goes along, and doctors and Amar'e will tell us when he's ready."
The question of Stoudemire's role on the Knicks has been asked frequently since he opted to have surgery on a cist in his left leg, putting him out six to eight weeks in October. While the Knicks had a losing record last season with both Carmelo Anthony and Stoudemire on the floor at the same time, the Knicks have been off to one of their best starts in nearly 20 years in Stoudemire's absence--leading to questions of how Stoudemire's return would impact their success.
Sources also recently told ESPN that Stoudemire would be open to coming off the bench, which would be a significant upgrade to a second unit that already features streaky scorer J.R. Smith and three-point specialist Steve Novak.
Meanwhile, Anthony scored 34 points while Raymond Felton, who shook off a hand injury scare, chipped in with 23 in the Knicks' Sunday victory over the Suns to go 7-0 at home.
The win makes New York one of only three teams in the NBA to have a perfect record at home--Miami (8-0 at home) and Utah (6-0) being the other two.
The game also provided drama on the court when Knicks forward Rasheed Wallace was ejected from the game after he got hit with a technical foul when he hit Suns player Luis Scola across the arm after the whistle.
Following a missed free throw by Goran Dragic, Wallace yelled "Ball don't lie!" - his way of saying the call was proven wrong by the missed free throw - and whistled for another, leading to his 31st career ejection.
NBA referees have been previously instructed to issue an automatic technical foul if the "Ball don't lie!" phrase is uttered by an NBA player during a game.
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