Don’t sulk, Amare! This was a moral victory if there ever was one. Amare Stoudemire and the Knicks succumbed to some vintage Paul Pierce heroics as he nailed another game winning bucket with 0.4 seconds left for the Celtics against a feisty Knicks team that just wouldn’t let up. While I’m sure it’s difficult to look at the silver lining right now, Amare Stoudemire and the rest of New York should feel very positive about the fight they showed in this game and I’m looking forward more than ever to their next battle with the Miami Heat.

WATCH VIDEO OF PIERCE’S GAME-WINNER BY CLICKING HERE

Watching this contest you couldn’t help but realize that the Knicks would have beaten nearly any other NBA team on this night and just happened to run into a fired up Celtics team that is fantastic in its own right.

This was a back and forth battle all night that seemed to favor the Knicks in terms of pace - the Celtics had come into the game #1 in points per 100 possessions in the league and during their ten-game winning streak had allowed just two foes to reach one-hundred points.

The Knicks’ high-octane offense was not to be denied in this one, though.

Stoudemire absolutely dominated Glen Davis in the first period, scoring 17 points on 7-10 shooting and utilizing all of his quickness off the dribble to create mid-range jumpers and sweet baseline layups. He finished the game with 39 points, his ninth-straight game with more than thirty, and served notice that he is the most dominant big man in the game. His jump shot is far more effective than I realized and when he faces up on the block there is little a defender can do to prevent a pull-up jumper or dribble-drive to the bucket.

He’s a beast and I’m afraid he’s just getting started.

Furthermore, his performances this season cause me to wonder if the Celtics would have beaten the Cavs in the playoffs last year if Cleveland had acquired Stoudemire instead of Jamison. When James basically tanked game five the Cavs would have had a bona-fide option to go to.

And LeBron might still be in Cleveland.

I continue to be surprised at the play of Raymond Felton - tonight he caused Rondo to look silly a handful of times on his way to 26 points and 14 assists including a ridiculous 3-pointer off the glass at the buzzer before halftime.

Even Gallinari looked spectacular on occasion, scoring 20 points on a variety of shots ranging from an insane reverse to a tough floater in the lane. Danilo might also have the sweetest-looking jumper in the game today, which is saying something.

The Celtics? They just clamped down defensively in the fourth and handed the ball to Pierce.

He’s done this many times before, folks.

Pierce scored 32 points himself and pulled down ten rebounds and positioned himself beautifully for the step-back jumper to win the game off the pick-and-roll. All-around excellence for Pierce in tonight’s win.

However, regardless of the Pierce jumper, how Ray Allen was so wide-open with one-minute remaining is beyond me. He actually had time to gather himself before firing. That is not a recipe for success, New York!

Garnett was especially feisty in the fourth quarter defensively and started becoming more aggressive on offense, which is what the Celtics really needed. Allen made his clutch threes, of course, and Boston’s bigs continue to do a fantastic job freeing him up along the baseline for his patented jumpers.

On the last play of regulation everyone seemed to think that Stoudemire’s three-point make might be good but it was pretty obvious that he didn’t let it go in time.

Ask Derek Fisher sometime about how to release a shot with 0.4 seconds on the clock. He knows how, trust me.

To understand how amazing this run must feel to Knicks fans and how fantastic a victory over the vaunted Celtics might have been you have to really look at the franchise’s recent track-record against Boston, which is abysmal.

Since the Celtics acquired Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in 2007 the Knicks have lost to Boston (including last night’s game) eleven of the last twelve times, including that historically embarrassing 59-104 massacre on November 29, 2007.

Their run of futility against Boston has stretched even longer than that, though -  they haven’t beaten Boston more than twice in a season since the 2003-04 campaign and have lost by double-digits to the Celtics eleven times since then.

Thankfully Amare Stoudemire and Raymond Felton were not part of this history and their confidence speaks volumes for this long-suffering franchise.

New York hasn’t experienced a winning campaign since the 2000-01 season - that 48-win club featured Latrell Sprewell, Allan Houston, and Marcus Camby. It’s been an awful long time for these guys! So even though I’m a lifelong Celtics fan I can’t help but feel overjoyed for Knicks fans during their recent surge.

“I guarantee you that Boston respects us. We are not slouches,” Stoudemire said. “We are going to play every single night until the horn goes off, and Boston knows it.”

You bet, Amare - while you’re not quite there yet I think most of us can agree the Knicks are back and here to stay. This close defeat was a giant step toward gaining respectability and if you can defeat Miami on Friday night the entire country will be singing your praises.

Good luck to you.