Amar’e Stoudemire stood up straight, his eyes growing wide. He had a slightly manic look. Stoudemire, the Knicks’ 6-11 forward, looked like a bottle of soda ready to pop.

Walt Frazier, who knows more about winning NBA titles than anyone over at the Garden, was looking out at the court the other night in the World’s Most Famous Renovated Arena and talking about all the players who have followed Amar’e Stoudemire into town.

Willis Reed has just one question regarding the partially renovated Madison Square Garden. “Are the retired numbers still there?â? he asks. “I need to see those numbers and make sure my boys are all taken care of as well as Patrick (Ewing).â?

According to a website that tracks ticket prices in the secondary market, the Knicks have the highest average ticket price of the five Christmas Day games.
Here are the averages, according to information provided by TiqIQ.com:
Celtics @ Knicks: $496.75
Bulls @ Lakers: $466.02
Heat @ Mavs: $395.97
Magic @ Thunder: $295.71
Clippers @ Warriors: $104.95
The average ticket price of the Knicks’ Christmas day game is nearly 50% higher than the average ticket price for the season ($332.

This time, there is no honeymoon period. There is no grading on a curve. There is no celebrating baby steps as if they were giant leaps.
This time, for the first time in a long time, the Knicks enter a season spackled with expectation, with promise and hope and all…

Landry Fields has a new Knicks jersey with the No. 2, having presented his old No. 6 to center Tyson Chandler when training camp began. Fields hopes the change will bring some championship luck.Fields admitted Chandler gave him a monetary gift that was “enough to make me smile,” but…

Post columnist Steve Serby huddled with Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni, whose team tips off its lockout-shortened season today vs. the Celtics.
What your highest high so far with the Knicks, and the lowest low?

I guess when we made the playoffs. The six-game losing streak last year was tough…

This was David Stern’s fantasy during the dog days of the five-month NBA lockout â?? an opening five-pack of Christmas games, led off by one of the league’s storied rivalries.
The Celtics are comin’ to town.
It finally is here â?? the season opener, Boston at Knicks inside a transformed…

Spero Dedes’ dad was having none of it.
Described by his son, the Knicks new radio play-by-play man, as “old school,â? Peter Dedes has run the Union Plaza Diner on Route 22 in Union, N.J., for more than 35 years. And he wasn’t keen on dropping $30,000…

The Heat, who returned their three superstars and added players including Shane Battier, say they’re stronger and wiser than the team that fell two playoff wins short.

With the lockout-abbreviated training camp, Coach Mike D’Antoni has simplified the offense and says he plans to add layers of complexity as the season progresses.

The American Basketball League survived for only a season and a half, but it was innovative, and gave a future Yankees owner practice in hiring and firing.

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

The N.B.A. and its players should commemorate two notable anniversaries: the 50th of the seminal 1961-62 season and the 35th of the rule that created free agency.