Suns 118, Knicks 108: “That’s what you’re facing”
The Knicks hung in there with Phoenix at home, looking for a 10th straight win. But the Suns are just a little further along in their journey to redemption, in large part because of Chris Paul, who put New York away in the closing minutes of a 118-108 loss.
With a minute left in the fourth quarter of last night’s Knicks’ game against the Suns, Phoenix had a 3-point lead and Chris Paul had the ball in his hands, guarded by Julius Randle. With apologies to Devin Booker and nobody on the Knicks, these were the teams’ best players matching up with the game on the line. What happened next was no less ridiculous than how far and how fast both teams have come to reach this moment.
“Every man should be capable of all ideas, and I believe that in the future he shall be,” Borges wrote in the penultimate paragraph of “Pierre Menard, Author of The Quixote.” Yet even the great Argentinian fabulist would be hard-pressed to imagine these teams led by these players meeting at such great heights. Two years ago, who would have guessed Joe Biden would be president? That Flint, Michigan would still be without clean water? That an invisible virus could shed so much light on so much human hate and stupidity? What we witnessed last night at Madison Square Garden — the build-up and the denouement — was just as unpredictable.
Two years ago, the Suns, led by Igor Kokoskov, went 19-63, and the David Fizdale Knicks 17-65. Phoenix gave major minutes to Josh Jackson (now a Piston), T.J. Warren (now a Pacer), and Jamal Crawford (now retired). Paul was a Houston Rocket, soon to be shipped to Oklahoma City. New York’s top six minutemen were Kevin Knox (DNP last night), Damyean Dotson (now a Cavalier), Noah Vonleh (waived by Brooklyn two months ago), Emmanuel Mudiay (unsigned) and Allonzo Trier (G-League). Now each team is coached by someone who spent time with the ‘90s Knicks — Monty Williams and Tom Thibodeau — and each team is on the ascent.
The Suns are further along than the Knicks. One reason why is their best player is better than the Knicks’ best. Booker is their most dangerous player, but in concentrated doses it’s still CP3 who moves the needle the most, something Randle experienced in the final minute.
Phoenix has a couple other advantages over New York. The Knicks’ best wing shooter is Reggie Bullock. Bullock is a wonderful shooter, as evidenced by the 12 points he scored in the opening frame. The Suns’ top gun is Booker, a wonderful shooter and creator for himself and others, as evidenced by the 12 he scored in the first. Bullock would score only five points the rest of the way. Booker poured in another 21 en route to a game-high 33. I love Reggie, but he ain’t pulling this.
Another big edge: in 2018 the Knicks drafted Kevin Knox ninth. They passed on Mikal Bridges, who went next to Philadelphia and was traded that night to Phoenix. Bridges has been a 3-and-D godsend; last night he scored 21 points in 41 minutes, as many minutes as Knox has played in the past month. That same draft the Suns had the top pick and selected Deandre Ayton, who is not the best player on the Mavericks or the Hawks like two of the players taken after him, but who is a center putting up 15 and 11 on 63% shooting. Skilled size doesn’t slump.
The Suns are deep and talented and resilient and they needed all of that to come back from 15 down in the first half. The Knicks came out with borderline frightening intensity — they say you can’t win a game in the first quarter, but the Knicks were game to try. If you’ve ever seen Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals — and if you haven’t, read about it — that’s how ferocious they were on both ends. Nerlens Noel started the fire.
Bullock was raining 3-pointers. Elfrid Payton had perhaps his best six-minute stretch of the season. New York led 30-15, but Bullock picked up two early fouls, stopping his flow in its tracks while Booker smelled blood the rest of the night.
The Suns were absent Jae Crowder and Sixth Man of the Year dark horse Dario Šarić. Three Knicks have been named Sixth Man of the Year; while Derrick Rose is unlikely to win this season, I’m hard-pressed to remember a Knick reserve consistently impacting as many games as he has. In the second quarter he was slinging hash like it was the lunch rush. The two-top wants an outlet to Obi Toppin.
How about RJ Barrett ahead of the field with Paul trapped in the mismatch? Put a little mustard on it.
And the blue plate special: Rose to Taj Gibson.
These were the game’s good times, its golden age, with the Knicks up double-digits and a run away from being up 20. But the Suns cut it to seven at halftime, and even with all the Knick positives, two storm clouds lingered near enough to worry: Paul hadn’t even looked to score, whereas Booker couldn’t be stopped.
After one of his lesser halves of the season, Randle began percolating in the middle of the third. Unfortunately, by the time he got going, the Suns had, too. Booker scored 10 in the third and Bridges 11, including attacking a closeout and finishing a reverse lay-up and-one that put Phoenix ahead for the first time. Randle and Barrett were off all night, leaving it to Rose, Toppin, Gibson, and Immanuel Quickley to carry that weight. They nearly did, outscoring Phoenix’s reserves 47-32 on 62% shooting, with Rose leading the Knicks in points and assists.
In the fourth, the Suns attacked Randle with double teams that didn’t spring until he dribbled. He cooled off at the same time that Paul and Cameron Johnson got hot for Phoenix. The Suns pulled ahead, but the game was still in doubt until Paul’s last-minute make over Randle. That was another difference between these two fast-rising clubs: the Knicks don’t have a proven endgame. The Suns do.
Notes
Per Mike Breen, Rose was the 24th Knick to score 20-plus points off the bench this year, the most in the league. When Rose, Quickley, and Alec Burks are all available, this bench is a force. If Mitchell Robinson comes back this year and Noel returns to the bench, that’s some crazy depth.
Wayne Gretzky’s “office” was behind the net. Booker’s is the dotted semi-circle at the top of the lane. If he gets his man down there he’s either getting a good look at a pull-up, drawing a foul, or juking you out and getting to the cup. What a scorer. Also, he’s a LOT faster with the ball on the break than I remember.
In all of NBA history, there have been but four Camerons. Two of them, Johnson and Payne, play for the Suns. Has any team in any sport ever had such a high concentration of any first name in its league’s history? (Minimum two players.)
On one defensive sequence, Rose literally ran full-bore along the baseline, leapt, and collided with Payne. He was whistled for fouling him as he made a three... and complained! It’s a fair toss as to who’s more self-righteous: soldiers from the Crusades or NBA defenders.
Phoenix is a whiny, floppy team. Booker, Payne, and Paul are obvious culprits, but even their sideline was giving off strong Karen vibes.
I remember hearing Marv Albert talk about Monty Williams carpooling to games his rookie year with then-teammate Doc Rivers — 27 years later, they’re two of the leading candidates for Coach of the Year. Patrick Ewing and Hubert Davis are coaching storied college teams. Everyone talks about how tough those teams were back in the day. Less often remarked upon is how smart they were.
Quoth Tom Thibodeau after the game: “...that’s what you’re facing.” He was talking about the Suns as a hint of some of what the Knicks will see come playoff time. New York has 10 games left, nine against playoff teams; in the interest of not jerking your chain with that stat, here’s where I point out that with two-thirds of the league being playoff teams, it’s worth noting 4-5 of those games are against play-in tournament teams. Still, the season’s end will be challenging. Next game is Wednesday, when the home stand concludes with Chicago. Hopefully the losing streak will, too.
