The New York Knicks came up short again Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, falling 106-99 to the Phoenix Suns. Missed opportunities? Check. Turnovers? Double check. No late-game execution? Triple check.
Devin Booker returned after missing one game for the Suns but Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart couldn’t say the same. Book dropped 27 points, Brunson and Hart combined for an egg, sitting out the game.
Grayson Allen added 16 points for Phoenix, Mark Williams finished with 14, and the Suns found the best
possible dance partner to snap a two-game skid in the New York Knicks. Damn, son.
Brunson and Hart, both sidelined with ankle injuries, were all the Knicks needed to generate at least a tiny bit of offense. Wouldn’t be the case, as Karl-Anthony Towns and Miles McBride each scored 23 points, while OG Anunoby added 21, but you know, good-not-great they say.
The Knickerbockers shot 40 percent from the field, committed 17 turnovers and fell to 16-5 at home.
The Knicks started well, hitting three of their first four attempts from beyond the arc and taking a 27-19 lead after one quarter. Phoenix responded in the second with a 12-0 run, but New York answered behind McBride’s activity on both ends and went into halftime up 56-55.
Momentum swung repeatedly in the third quarter. The Suns opened the half on a 10-3 run, only for the Knicks to respond with a 16-0 burst that briefly gave them a double-digit cushion. Phoenix closed the quarter strong, tying the game at 77 before Booker converted an and-one at the buzzer to give the Suns a three-point edge entering the fourth.
The final period was sloppy and physical. Both teams dove for loose balls, and Allen appeared to injure his nose in one collision. Phoenix finally separated itself with an 8-0 run, fueled by Knicks misses and second-chance opportunities, turning an 87-87 tie into a 95-87 lead.
New York went just 1-for-10 from three-point range in the fourth quarter and scored only 22 points. Towns had a chance to cut the deficit to four late but airballed a wide-open three, drawing boos from the Garden crowd.
The loss dropped the Knicks to three straight defeats and eight losses in their last 10 games. They next host the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.
