New York Knicks: 15 greatest individual performances of all-time

12. Amar’e Stoudemire breaks the 30-point record

In the summer of 2010, the Knicks went big-game hunting, trying to get just a single star free agent to come to the Big Apple.

There were meetings with the likes of LeBron James and Chris Bosh, two of the best on the market. However, the Knicks would end up netting neither of the two. Instead, they brought in high-flying Amar’e Stoudemire.

Stoudemire had embraced the challenge that being a Knick brings, famously stating “The Knicks are back” before he’d even stepped foot on The Garden floor.

There was an adjustment period, but once “STAT” got into a groove, there was a stretch towards the end of November and early December where he was dropping 30+ points per game with regularity, leading the Knicks to wins in the process.

Stoudemire had put in over 30 points in eight straight games — tying Willie Nauls for the most consecutive games crossing that threshold — when the Denver Nuggets came to town.

The matchup would pit future teammates and two of the games best scorers in Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony against each other, a recipe for terrific basketball.

Despite residing in foul trouble through most of the game and struggling with his shot early on, Stoudemire managed to break Nauls’ 40+ year-old record with 24 points in the second half to finish with 30. More importantly, the Knicks won, pushing their win streak to eight games.

After years playing alongside Steve Nash with the Phoenix Suns, many were questioning whether Stoudemire could be the face of a franchise, especially when that franchise had proven too pressure-filled for many players before him.

Obviously, injuries and the presence of a fellow star hindered his ultimate goal of truly bringing the Knicks back to relevance. But for this game and really this run, the possibilities in New York were endless.