The New York Knicks host the Phoenix Suns Wednesday night (Jan. 18) in the only game that the two teams will play against each other this season. It’s the one time that the Madison Square Garden fans get to see Suns point guard Steve Nash and hopefully it shows how an opponent can work to shut him down.

The Suns have a 4-9 record this season, placing the team fourth in the Pacific division. Not much has gone right for a team that wasn’t expected to make the postseason anyways, but no franchise wants to see a season wasted like this one. Phoenix is heading straight for a lottery pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t weapons on the roster.

The starting lineup against the Knicks is likely Marcin Gortat at center, Channing Frye at power forward, Grant Hill at small forward, Jared Dudley at shooting guard and Nash at the point. Only three players average in double-figures scoring, led by Gortat at just 14.3 points per game. Nash comes in at 14.2 points with his 10 assists a night and Dudley averages 11.1 points. Those aren’t very impressive statistics, but it could just show how deep the rotation is that the team goes with. 10 players are getting 16 or more minutes per night and it means they can run the floor well.

A potential problem for the Knicks is that the Suns like to shoot a lot of three-pointers. The team averages 19.7 attempts per night and though they only make 33.2 percent of those, this is a team that can hit the wide-open shots. If the Knicks can just make sure to rotate well on defense and rush the three-point line, then this game is going to turn into a very easy win.

Carmelo Anthony is back on the court after missing just one game and actually put in 33 points against the Orlando Magic on Monday (Jan. 16). He brings his 26.1 points per game average into this one and will definitely get called upon to put up big numbers. Amare Stoudemire is the one to watch closely though, as he goes up against his former team and a franchise that didn’t believe he was worth the long-term investment. He might have something to prove and there certainly isn’t anyone on the Suns roster that can stop him.

Even though the Knicks are on a streak of terribly played games, this seems like one that should end up in the win column very easily. As long as everyone is covering their defensive assignments then it could actually turn into a blowout in favor of the home team. Game time is 7:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday night (Jan. 18).

More From YCN :

Knicks Beat Washington (Barely)

Knicks Lose to Raptors

Knicks Beat Kings Without Stoudemire

Stoudemire Injures Ankle

No_Garnett_Suspension

Sources:

NBA Standings

Full Knicks Schedule

New York Knicks Website

*Ryan Christopher DeVault is a fan of the New York Knicks that has followed the team since the days John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason instilled their defensive will on the rest of the league.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

The Oklahoma City Thunder followed up four close wins with a comfortable blowout in their New Year’s Eve game with the Phoenix Suns. Oklahoma City jumped out to a big lead and then rested all their starters in the fourth quarter, as the Thunder finished the game with a 107-97 win.

Daequin Cook
Wikimedia Commons

The best sign for the Thunder was Russell Westbrook finally playing up to the level fans are used to. He played his best game of the season, hitting 8-of-14 (57-percent) for a team high 18 points. Kevin Durant, who opened the season with four straight 30-point games, finished with 12 points, only playing for 26:17 in the contest.

Kendrick Perkins continued to dominate in the paint, with eight rebounds and a blocked shot. Serge Ibaka also added two blocks of his own, raising his total on the season to 11.

However, this was a game that Oklahoma City jumped out to a 20-point lead and there was no reason to keep their starters on the floor. This was a great game for the Thunder to see what their bench players could do.

Six players scored in double digits, three of them bench players. Once you get past James Harden, who is only a reserve in name alone, Nick Collison and Daequan Cook, were the other two who led the team.

Cook was the first role player to impress in the game, hitting three quick 3-pointers in a row, helping the team jump out to their big lead. Cook, the third-string shooting guard, has made 13 shots on the season, and 12 have come from three-point range. When the Thunder needs a three, there is no one better on the team to call on.

Nick Collison is Ibaka’s backup and has been getting a lot of playing time when the Thunder play a team with a dominating power forward. He scored 11 points, pulled down four rebounds and blocked a shot in the win over the Suns.

Other notable performances include the first action of the season for Lazar Hayward, who the Thunder picked up from Minnesota, and rookie Reggie Jackson’s first game action. Hayward finished with seven points, while hitting 3-of-5 from the floor. Jackson went 1-for-3 in his first action of the season with two points.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and is an avid sports fan that has lived in Oklahoma for over 40 years. He used to religiously follow the Dallas Mavericks until Oklahoma City found a team to call their own.

Source: NBA.COM

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The undefeated Oklahoma City Thunder hope to earn their fifth win of the season as they welcome the Phoenix Suns to town for their annual New Year’s Eve game. The Thunder are currently 4-0 for the first time since the 2002-03 season, while they were still in Seattle. The last time the Oklahoma City franchise started a season 5-0 was in 1998-99.

Picking up where he left off in 2010-11, Kevin Durant has scored 30-points or more in each of the Thunder’s first four games this season. Durant is one of only four players in the last 30 years to open the season with four straight 30-point scoring efforts. The last player to do it was Kobe Bryant in 2005-06. If Durant scores over 30-points against the Suns, he will be the first player to do so in the first five games of the season since Michael Jordan in 1986-87.

The Thunder is 28-5 when Durant hits the 30-point plateau since last season.

James Harden has also continued to star for the Thunder as the sixth man early in 2011-12. Harden has come off the bench to score in double figures in each of the Thunder’s first four games of the season and his 17.5 point per game average currently ranks third in the NBA among reserves.

Phoenix sits at 1-2 on the season but only broke the 90-point barrier once. After scoring 14 points in the Suns’ season-opening loss to the New Orleans Hornets, Steve Nash, the two-time league MVP, is 4-for-19 with 11 total points over his last two games combined.

Nash had 12 assists in the games that Phoenix has played this season against the Hornets, but only dished one in Wednesday’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. Hakim Warrick scored a game-high 18 points off the bench in their most recent game with the Hornets and Jared Dudley added 16 for the Suns.

Oklahoma City beat Phoenix the last three times they met. Tip off on New Year’s Eve is set for 7:00 p.m. CT.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and is an avid sports fan that has lived in Oklahoma for over 40 years. He used to religiously follow the Dallas Mavericks until Oklahoma City found a team to call their own.

Source: NBA.COM

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Phoenix Suns update:

The lockout has caused a shortage in Orange Slices. We should be discussing what free agent the Suns signed today. Instead, we are left to reminisce that this is the one-year anniversary of Amar’e Stoudemire becoming a New York Knick.

There is good news for the Suns about today too. This is the first Friday that the Suns did not have to cut Terry Porter a check for not coaching. Speaking of coaches hired for defensive purposes, let’s get to some Orange Slices:

* The Suns expected to have their new defensive assistant coach in place by the end of this week but that now sounds like it will come next week.

The (Racine, Wis.) Journal Times reported that Milwaukee assistant coach Jim Boylan turned down an offer from the Suns. It is not clear whether he had an actual offer but the Suns definitely were talking to him about the job and he needed to make a decision for the Bucks, who signed him to a one-year contract.

That leaves former Houston assistant coach Elston Turner and San Antonio assistant coach Don Newman as the Suns’ likely primary remaining candidates. (8:30 p.m. blog update: Yahoo! reports that Newman also has passed on the offer. Only other major candidate was Chicago scout Pete Myers but he’s not nearly as qualified as Turner, a former Suns head coach candidate who led Rick Adelman’s Kings and Rockets defenses.)

* Expect to see the Suns use the D-League more than they have been since the affiliate moved from Albuquerque to Iowa in 2008.

This week’s announcement that the Suns are now affiliated with the Bakersfield Jam puts them in much better proximity to have players and staff spend time there.

“I’m a huge fan of the minor leagues,” Suns General Manager Lance Blanks said. “The best experience is naturally playing. If the guy is sitting around in the environment of a NBA team vs. getting playing time in the D-League, I don’t think it’s even close where he reaps the most benefits. I’m excited about the partnership.

“For any young player, if he’s not going to be a high-impact NBA guy, he can learn quickly in the D-League. It’s not like going to the principal’s office. There’s great benefit from it.”

Suns players only logged 19 games with Iowa over the three-year affiliation. This season, Suns rookie Gani Lawal only averaged 20.2 minutes in the 10 games he played there while rookie Garret Siler averaged 16.3 minutes in four appearances. That surely was not the type of game experience the Suns wanted for them.

The Bakersfield Jam is coached by Will Voigt, who was the Spurs’ video coordinator when Blanks was director of scouting there. Voigt also worked a year on the basketball staff at Texas, where Blanks played collegiately.

Also, Suns Director of Player Personnel John Treloar has an extensive minor-league basketball background, including coaching Erie before he came to Phoenix.

* Like Coach Alvin Gentry (now the suns.com co-star with the Suns Dancers) conveyed earlier, Blanks heard nothing but positive reviews from Marcin Gortat and Siler about their five-day training session with Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon at his ranch west of Houston.

“I’m glad the guys were motivated to get better internally and put in the energy to work with one of the best in the league,” Blanks said. “I’m sure they’ll come back with a few tricks.”

Center Robin Lopez was not included because he was traveling out of the country at the time of the opportunity that the Suns financed.

* There will be some Suns basketball this season. Mickael Pietrus is playing for France and Gortat is playing for Poland at the 24-nation European Championship, which runs Aug. 31-Sept. 18 in Lithuania.

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Friday, July 8, 2011 at 08:02 PM

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Press Release Source: Jawa On Tuesday February 22, 2011, 12:42 pm EST

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Feb. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Scottsdale-based software and interactive media firm, Jawa, is pleased to announce its sponsorship of the Suns & Stars Gala on March 11, an annual fundraising event with all proceeds benefiting Phoenix Suns Charities.  Jawa’s charitable contribution will assist Phoenix Suns Charities in its mission to assist the needs of Arizona children and their families in the areas of education, health, the arts, sports, recreation and rehabilitation.  Since its inception, Phoenix Suns Charities has donated more than ten million dollars to worthy Arizona organizations.

Jawa’s support of Phoenix Suns Charities is part of its ‘Jawa Gives’ philanthropy program which allows employees to nominate charities to receive a donation from Jawa.  Suns Charities was nominated by a staff member who, in addition to being a dedicated Suns fan, has admired the Suns charity work and the team’s mission to improve the quality of life in our community.  

“Phoenix Suns Charities is impactful as it donates more than one million dollars a year to charities here in Arizona.  As a Scottsdale-based company, Jawa strives to support organizations making a difference in our community, which makes Suns Charities a perfect ‘Jawa Gives’ recipient.  I’m looking forward to this year’s Suns & Stars Gala and excited about Jawa’s sponsorship,” said Jawa CEO, Jason Hope.

Phoenix Suns Charities joins a fantastic group of organizations that have received donations through ‘Jawa Gives.’  Most recently, Jawa has donated to the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM), Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale, Muscular Dystrophy Association of Phoenix, the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Phoenix, the Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter, Phoenix Zoo, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Desert Mountain States Chapter, Donor Network of Arizona and Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Phoenix.

About Jawa

Founded in 2005, Jawa develops software and media solutions enabling people to stay connected to information, entertainment, and communities while on the go. Jawa is a privately held company headquartered in Scottsdale, AZ. For more information on Jawa, visit http://www.jawa.com.