The Phoenix Suns defeated the New York Knicks 116-113 at Madison Square Garden, achieving their seventh consecutive victory and their best this season.
Phoenix was missing Grayson Allen (illness), Bradley Beal (lower back strain) and Kevin Durant (sore right foot), two members of the Big 3 and the best player outside of that trio through 16 games. And the Knicks were healthy.
This required Devin Booker to take out his shoulder pads to take on all the extra weight of his team’s carry, a piece of equipment that was worn out at this point with the amount of times he’s been asked to do it over the years, and he still got the job done.
Booker scored 28 points for himself on a somewhat ineffective night, 10 for 25. He had 11 assists in just two turnovers in his role as a point guard, plus seven other career-high hockey assists (aka making the pass to set up the assist), and five Rebounds and two blocks. Phoenix was three-point wins by +15 when Booker was around.
In a game the Suns held a 14-point lead late in the first quarter, got back to 13 points midway through the third quarter and stayed within two possessions for the final 17 minutes.
Jalen Brunson scored 20 of his 35 points in the first half, while Julius Randle added 17 of his 28 points in the third quarter to keep New York ahead.
After several other Suns contributions we’ll get to, Booker was cooperative early on the majority of his possessions, and a Knicks effort with less than a minute left led to a shot clock violation with 41 seconds left.
Brunson made a free screamer at the end of the shot clock on the other end to tie the game at par with 21 seconds remaining.
After a Suns timeout, Booker waited out the clock 40 feet out on the left wing. With 10 seconds left, the “run and jump” defense Booker has seen for half a decade came to chase him off the ball. Booker passed to Jordan Goodwin on his right, and as the help defender backed away, Booker ran towards Godwin to retrieve it after a handoff. Far from it, Booker went from west to east in order to get steep enough away from doubling down. He found enough space on the right wing, where he rose and sealed the game-winning 3 with 1.1 taps to go.
Winner of the game. pic.twitter.com/70qt2XqCLa
-Phoenix Suns (@Suns) November 27, 2023
The bucket was Booker’s sixth of his career to take the lead with three seconds or less left in the game, tied for second most in the NBA since entering the league in 2015, Per Stathed. He is tied with Los Angeles Clippers guard Russell Westbrook and Denver Nuggets midfielder Nikola Jokic, while he is with Chicago Bulls guard DeMar DeRozan at the top.
Brunson’s 32-footer got in and out to seal the deal.
A shooting performance below Booker’s standards and big stretches from Brunson and Randle quickly shrunk the Suns’ margin for error. Without that trio of injured players, they’ll need a nice outing from Eric Gordon and score enough 3s for the extra attention Booker would inevitably get. They’ve had enough.
Gordon led the way with a season-high 25 points and six 3s, but stellar games by Jordan Goodwin (14 points, two 3s) and Nassir Little (11 points, three 3s) offset 11 of the Suns’ 16 three-pointers (16-for-38, 42.1). %).
Godwin also had seven rebounds, five assists, a steal and a block in 29 minutes, his second straight impressive game on the road trip. Little has not really capitalized on his first real chance at consistent playing time over the last five games, cementing his role in the wing rotation.
Head coach Frank Vogel kept senior backup Chimezie Metu in the rotation after filling in for the injured Drew Eubanks the last two games. With Eubanks back, Mito drops back to the 4, where his impressive athleticism gives him a chance to hang in there defensively while opening up space for his advanced three-point shot. The sixth-year USC product is kind of a tween in that way, as he’s not big enough to protect the rim as a 5 but lacks the perimeter skills that today’s power forwards should have.
Metu at 4 gave Phoenix another nice rebound in terms of size, and because Metu is spending time there versus other reserves, he won’t really be put in problematic defensive situations as long as he executes his assist duties. He did, and on the weak side of the dribble, Metu got a 3 and also had a great two-off dribble floater around the shutout.
Mezie shows touch. pic.twitter.com/hBfPY4ZijD
-Phoenix Suns (@Suns) November 26, 2023
Mito knocked down his attempt from deep for eight points and grabbed four rebounds.
Phoenix’s defense was a little inconsistent, but overall good for the game. Yusuf Nurkic had a major role in this. Yes, his flaws will show and we will see how targeted he is in the postseason. But he has been reliable and good defensively over the past two weeks. He contributed eight points, 10 rebounds, four assists, a steal and four blocks in 33 minutes.
Although Keita Bates-Diop (0 for 5 from 3) and Josh Okogie (0 from 3) couldn’t make 3-pointers initially, they combined for a few impactful drives, including three of 18 for Phoenix to rebound. Offensive. The Suns, with only Booker among their roster of starters, limited turnovers to 11 and had 27 assists.
