Suns 112, Knicks 107: Out-clutched in Cactusville

This morning, the temperature in Phoenix, Arizona, was in the forties, as it was back in New York. Different city, same stuff. Tonight, the Knicks turned the ball over 18 times and lost a game. Different city, same stuff.

Yet again, New York (24*-14) stumbled out of the gate, falling behind early to the Phoenix Suns (23-15) and losing the first quarter (again), 28–23. Karl-Anthony Towns finally took a shot in the second quarter . . . the bench helped to regain ground, and the Knicks were down 62–60 at intermission. After the break, the Suns reasserted control, then briefly surrendered the lead before a physical, poorly officiated stretch fueled a 14–0 run that left the Knicks trailing 94–86. Mitchell Robinson’s dominant work on the glass powered a late comeback that erased a nine-point deficit, but Phoenix’s clutch shot-making and New York’s free throws down the stretch sealed a 112–107 Suns win.

New York has now lost five of their last six games. Don’t panic. The teams shot almost identically from the field (45% for both) and three (39% for New York, 38% for Phoenix). The Suns’ edge came from cleaner execution: they turned the ball over far less (10 to New York’s 18) and converted mistakes into 22 Knicks points conceded. The Knicks housed the glass (50–37, including 16 offensive boards) yet rarely controlled the game.

Jalen Brunson led visitors with 27 points on 9-for-19 shooting, knocked down 5-of-10 from three, and went a perfect 4-of-4 at the line. He dished five assists in 37 minutes and missed some clutch shots down the stretch. (Don’t panic.) Miles McBride chipped in 17 points on 7-of-15 ( 3-of-8 from deep ) and swatted down three blocks and one steal across 39 minutes. OG Anunoby and Towns each scored 15: the former did it on 3-for-9 shooting and 7-for-9 free throws with eight rebounds, while Towns went 5-for-11, grabbed 12 boards, and doled out five assists. He also turned the ball over five times. Mikal Bridges rounded out the starters with 11 points on 4-for-10, hitting 3-of-8 from three and contributing eight boards, four assists, and one block.

Off the bench, Mitchell Robinson finished with eight points and 14 rebounds, including eight offensive boards, in 24 minutes. He was a much-needed force in the fourth quarter. Jordan Clarkson provided first-half scoring with 12 points on 4-for-8, going 1-for-3 from three in 21 minutes. The rest of the second unit struggled to contribute: Tyler Kolek scored two points with three turnovers in 10 minutes, Mohamed Diawara went scoreless in four minutes, and Kevin McCullar Jr. barely played.

For Phoenix, Dillon Brooks led the way with 27 points on 8-for-15 shooting, drilling 5-of-9 from three, while also contributing seven boards and five assists. Devin Booker finished with 31 points on 10-for-23 shooting, 4-of-6 from deep, and 7-of-8 at the stripe, while adding eight assists, three rebounds, and two steals. And big man Mark Williams anchored the interior with 10 points, five rebounds, and two blocks.

First Half

The trend of late is for the Knicks to come out sleepy, dopey, and generally listless in the first quarter. Against the Clippers, they were outscored 14-5 from the jump; Detroit outscored them, 13-5; and against Philadelphia, they were outscored 11-9, then fell farther behind (16-11). You have to go back to the Hawks game on January 2 to find them starting on a winning foot . . . and New York wound up losing that first quarter, too.

Hence, it was no great shock to see more of the same unfold. The Suns hit seven of their first 14 attempts, including 4-of-8 from deep, while the Knicks hit 4-of-13 from the field and coughed up the ball three times in the first four minutes. New York’s defense allowed Phoenix to shoot from the arc or zip the ball around for a closer score. You know, mixing it up! The deficit was eight points at the midway point and reached 11 deep in the quarter.

McBride set the tone for New York with shooting and hustle, while Brooks and Booker drove Phoenix’s offense, bolstered by Williams’ interior finishing. With the starters treading water, Robinson and Clarkson were the first substitutions around the five-minute mark. Kevin McCullar, Jr. played for a minute around then, too, committed a foul, and was returned to his seat. The Knicks did rally to score six unanswered points to gain some ground, but ultimately lost the first quarter for the fifth straight game, 28-23.

Towns didn’t take his first shot until the 7:30 mark . . . of the second quarter. Stefan Bondy reported that Mike Brown had “made schematic changes in their last practice before the Clippers game.” We erroneously hoped that meant more sets that opened up KAT’s scoring opportunities. Instead, this offense is like the guy who has a Ferrari in the garage and all he ever does is wax it.

Early in the frame, Tyler Kolek toyed with our emotions, scoring on a driving layup but then committing two turnovers and a foul. Meanwhile, Mitchell Robinson’s absence began to show on the glass as the Suns scarfed up second chances. KAT was starting to come alive, as he often does when sharing the court with Kolek. He knocked down a Kolek-assisted three and grabbed a few boards, and, little by little—thanks to some Clarkson contributions—they chipped away at the score. They went ahead at the midway point, and then the lead changed seven times before halftime. By intermission, the visitors trailed 62-60.

The Knicks shot 21-for-43 (49%), were sharp from deep (9-for-20, 45%), and matched the Suns at the line with a perfect 9-for-9. Phoenix shot nearly the same from the field (22-for-46, 48%), but were cooler beyond the arc (8-for-21, 38%). Later in the half, they leaned more heavily on interior scoring (26 points in the paint to New York’s 20) and rim protection (2 blocks). New York had ruled the glass (26–18), but eight turnovers undercut those advantages. Brooks led all scorers with 20, while Brunson had 13 for New York.

Second Half

Out of halftime, Phoenix repeated how they started the game, building up a lead with barely a sniff of resistance. New York looked to Towns to stabilize things, and he scored on a quick dunk to give the game some juice. They needed more of that, with Phoenix playing bully ball. Brunson began to find his rhythm, too. Midway through the third quarter, Cap—who is second in the league for charges drawn—took a driving foul from Brooks, then swished a triple going away. Soon, the Knicks had regained the lead! And gave it away again.

Mohamed Diawara checked in for four minutes, logged no stats but a foul, and Coach Brown summoned him back to the bench. With McCullar M.I.A. and Diawara’s early exit, clearly, this would not be one of those bench-guy-saves-the-day days. In fact, none of the Knicks looked poised to save the day.

Grayson Allen continued to annoy and get away with a ton of contact. At one point, after being manhandled by the graying Grayson without a whistle, Clarkson turned over the ball and came up from a scrum on the floor looking ready to coldcock that prick. Even Mike Breen quipped on the broadcast, “That’s poor officiating.” Part of me wishes Clarkson would’ve dropped the bum. Some players, like Brooks—Alex Caruso comes to mind, too—you hate from a distance but would love on your team. Not Allen. That smug bastard is the human equivalent of bowel cancer. (Forgive me, I get surly past my bedtime.)

The Allen scuffle came during a particularly physical stretch during which the home team scored 14 unanswered and put the Knicks down by a dozen. The defense was not good, as you’ll see in the clip below. At the break, Phoenix was ahead 86-94. Not to jinx it, but coming into the game, the Suns were 18-1 in games where they held the lead to start the fourth.

Maybe a hero would rise, after all. A big one, like a Swamp Thing from the bayou, perhaps?

That’s right, kids. New York still had Mitchell Robinson, and he was easily the Knicks’ most impactful presence. He dominated the glass on both ends with a flurry of offensive rebounds that repeatedly extended possessions. On the offensive end, he even scored on a tip-in and an alley-oop. Thanks to his efforts—and buckets from Brunson and Anunoby (back-to-back threes!)—New York managed to unravel Phoenix’s nine-point lead and tie the game with under three minutes to go.

Phoenix is one of the league’s best clutch shooting teams, which made for a thrilling matchup with our Captain Clutch. Sure enough, Booker hit a mid-ranger for a two-point lead, and O’Neale swished from the corner to make it five. McBride answered with a bomb, cutting the difference to three. (How many times this season has Deuce lost a point for having his toe on the line? That happened once recently, right?)

With thirty seconds left, Robinson intentionally fouled Oso Ighodaro, perhaps knowing that he shoots freebies as well as Mitch. (It’s weird to see Mitch perform a hack-a-Mitch.) Sure enough, Ighodaro missed both, allowing OG to sky in and steal a rebound.

Down by three, a Brunson pass was deflected, and Allen (of course) chased it down to throw it off Bridges. McCullar fouled Allen, who hit both. Down by five, New York got possession with 14 seconds, and Bridges made a side-three. New York promptly fouled Allen again, who made his free throws again.

Down by four, Bridges almost committed a five-second violation on the inbound, but he found Anunoby, who was fouled by O’Neale on a missed three-pointer. OG, an 82% shooter from the line, missed the first two. With two seconds left, New York tried to prevent the inbound, failed, and fouled Brooks. Ballgame.