By BRIAN MAHONEY
AP Basketball Writer

NEW YORK(AP) -- Mike D'Antoni's offense was as spectacular against
the Suns as it used to be with them.

And after watching his team blow it open early and pour it on
late, he was able to relax in the final minutes for one of the
few times since he left Phoenix.

Danilo Gallinari had 27 points and 10 rebounds, and the New York
Knicks beat the Suns 126-99 on Tuesday night, snapping a
five-game losing streak and giving their coach a resounding
victory over his old team.

"If we can bottle this up," D'Antoni said. "As a matter of fact,
I didn't know how to conduct myself the last five minutes. I
didn't know who to put in, when to put them in. It's been a
while."

David Lee added 24 points and Al Harrington had 22 for the
Knicks, who rang up a season-best 71 first-half points, then put
it away when Gallinari scored seven points in a span of barely a
minute midway through the third quarter.

New York reached 100 points by the end of the third and coasted
to its easiest victory of the season.

"It means a lot when you play against a team that plays your
game and is at the top of the list, because they have the best
record," Gallinari said. "So it's great for us."

Steve Nash had 20 points and eight assists for the Suns (14-4),
who came in with the NBA's best record. They had won four
straight by an average of 21.3 points, but this time found
themselves on the other side of a blowout.

The Suns didn't even reach 100 points, the first time this
season that's happened.

"Terrible performance," Nash said. "I'm embarrassed. Obviously
just a disastrous effort. We just have to wash it away and pick
it up tomorrow."

It was a sweet victory for D'Antoni, who rode his high-scoring
offensive system to an average of 58 wins in his four full
seasons in Phoenix before he and the Suns parted ways after a
first-round loss to San Antonio in 2008.

He hasn't been nearly as successful with an inferior roster in
New York, where he coached his 100th game Tuesday and recorded
just his 36th victory. He improved to 2-1 against the Suns,
though said before the game the emotions weren't the same as
they were last season.

"I've got enough problems in New York that I don't really
reflect on what they're doing," D'Antoni said.

Phoenix missed the playoffs last season, but has rededicated
itself to playing fast under Alvin Gentry and was looking to
start 15-3 for the first time since doing so under D'Antoni in
2004-05. But the Suns never slowed the Knicks down for long,
even when they went to a zone in the third quarter.

"Mike did a great job. He had them well prepared," Gentry said.
"They shot the ball well and played well defensively. Obviously
they did, we didn't get 100 points."

New York doubled its 13-point halftime lead midway through the
third quarter and led by 31 in the fourth. None of the Knicks'
previous three wins had come by more than seven points.

"Third quarters have been really tough for us, how we start
third quarters," Knicks guard Chris Duhon said. "But we came out
and we took care of the game mostly in the early parts of the
third quarter."

Wilson Chandler scored 14 points for the Knicks and Larry Hughes
had 11 points and a season-high 12 assists.

New York fell two points shy of its highest-scoring quarter of
the season, opening a 39-28 lead. Chandler (12), Gallinari and
Lee (10 apiece) were already in double figures after the first
12 minutes.

The Knicks opened the second quarter with a 9-4 burst, extending
the lead to 48-32 on Gallinari's jumper. The Suns cut it to six
later in the period, but New York pushed it back to 15,
repeatedly getting layups and dunks, and led 71-58 at the half.

Amare Stoudemire, Jason Richardson and Alando Tucker scored 14
points for Phoenix, which ends a four-game trip Wednesday at
Cleveland.

NOTES: Gentry was chosen Tuesday as Western Conference coach of
the month, the fifth Phoenix coach to win the honor. D'Antoni
claimed it a franchise-record four times. ... Phoenix played
without reserve guard Leandro Barbosa, who sprained his left
ankle Sunday in Toronto and also will miss Wednesday's game. ...
The Knicks also scored 71 points in the second half against
Philadelphia on Oct. 31. ... The Suns had won nine of the
previous 11 meetings.