Amazing night for Amaré in Indy

INDIANAPOLIS - The official scorer was the only one who could stop Amaré Stoudemire from a career-high scoring night Wednesday.

But no one could stop him from having a night to remember, as he gave the NBA a peek at just how good he can be as he works toward filling in his all-around game.

On a night when Matt Barnes had to leave the team, Shaquille O’Neal played when he thought he wouldn’t and the rest of the Suns were dragging in their second game in as many nights, Stoudemire put them on his back with 49 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and five steals. And when his teammates finally supported him with some second-half defense and held the Pacers to 37 points, it was enough for a 113-103 victory at Conseco Fieldhouse, a fourth straight road win to open the season.

“Coming off the back-to-back games with our older group, I wanted to take it upon myself as a young guy to carry the load,” said Stoudemire, who was 17 of 21 from the floor — and two of his missed shots were desperation efforts to beat the shot clock. “Once the ball went up I was totally tuned in. And once my guys got focused (late), we took it from there.”

Stoudemire threw down the first of his half-dozen dunks on Indiana’s helpless front line just 23 seconds into the game and just kept going. In the third quarter alone, he accounted for 14 points, four rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block. As a team, the Pacers had 18 points, 10 rebounds, one assist and two steals and no blocks in the same stretch.

“It’s maybe the best game I’ve ever seen him play,” said Suns guard Steve Nash, who did have his fastball (seven points, six assists) in the back-to-back situation. “He was unbelievable. To draw a crowd and then make that extra pass — that’s when our team can become unstoppable, not just him.”

Stoudemire was originally credited with a Boris Diaw alley-oop dunk in the fourth quarter and a career-high 51 points. The error was discovered just after the final buzzer, leaving him one shy of his career high, set in 2005, and the sixth 50-point night in Phoenix history.

Even after the white-out, he added to his own franchise record with his 13th 40-point game and fashioned the first 49-point, 10-rebound, five-assist, five-steal night in the NBA in 34 years — when Rick Barry of Golden State exploded for 64 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and five steals against Portland in 1974.

“And we needed every one of those points,” Suns coach Terry Porter said.

But for the veterans, seeing the player still 10 days shy of his 26th birthday take giant steps in his development was far more important than the stat sheet.

“We were pretty low on energy tonight and I’m so proud of the way he just took over,” forward Grant Hill said. “You can look at the points and the dunks … but he was so smart. He passed out of double teams and took what the defense gave him. He was rebounding, playing defense and getting in passing lanes, his ball handling and the distributing … that was the complete package.”

O’Neal, who was told all day he wouldn’t play and took part in a hard, 30-minute workout about an hour before tip-off, was pressed into service when Barnes left the team to fly back to the Bay Area for family reasons. He lasted only 12 minutes and scored just 3 points, but his wingman took care of the rest.

“That was a terrific performance,” Indiana coach Jim O’Brien said.

“We had no answers for him.”

And there lies the hope that the much-discussed championship window hasn’t been painted shut.