The Knicks and the Phoenix Suns did not always play well Monday night. They played hard. They played it close. And eventually they played into overtime.
Give
the Knicks credit for grinding out a hard-fought 98-96 victory at
Madison Square Garden that extended their winning streak to five games.
The Knicks (15-22) played stingy defense in overtime, when they held the
Suns without a field goal on 0-for-7 shooting.
Carmelo
Anthony (29 points, 16 rebounds) led the offense, but Kenyon Martin (8
points, 9 rebounds) was stellar defensively. Martin feels the Knicks’
defensive effort has become contagious.
“We’re
making each possession tough,” Martin said. “There’re going to be a few
lapses here and there, but we’re trying to make each possession tough.
It’s mental focus. I think we’re locking in.”
With
the Suns trailing by 3 points with 40 seconds left in overtime, the
Knicks put Martin on Phoenix point guard Goran Dragic (28 points), who
carried his team offensively. Martin moved his feet well as Dragic drove
to the basket, forcing him into a missed shot.
The
Knicks rebounded, and after Anthony missed on a jumper, the Suns had
one last chance with 3.2 seconds to play. But Raymond Felton
intentionally fouled Channing Frye with 2.5 seconds to play. Frye missed
the first free throw before making the second. The Knicks called
timeout, inbounded the ball to Anthony, who was intentionally fouled,
then ran out the clock on the next inbounds pass.
The
Knicks learned why the Suns (21-16) are one of the N.B.A.’s surprise
teams. Dragic was too quick for anyone who tried to defend him,
particularly Felton. Suns guard Leandro Barbosa (21 points) also spent
the fourth quarter creating openings and knocking down shots.
“For
the fifth game in seven nights against a team that has been playing
very well, I thought they gave a heck of an effort tonight,” Suns Coach
Jeff Hornacek said. “We just didn’t make any shots.”
The
Suns were finishing a five-game trip, and the Knicks seemed a step
quicker in overtime. Anthony’s alley-oop dunk off a pass from Martin
gave the Knicks a 2-point lead to open the scoring in the extra period.
Then Martin scored on a put-back dunk off a Felton miss to put the
Knicks ahead, 96-92, with 3 minutes 13 seconds left in overtime.
After
a Suns timeout, Andrea Bargnani fouled Frye on a drive, but Frye made
just one of two foul shots, leaving the Knicks with a 3-point lead. The
Knicks went back to Anthony, who converted a baseline jumper to give the
Knicks a 98-93 lead with just under three minutes to play, and the Suns
never fully recovered.
The
fourth quarter came down to the Suns’ final possession, with the Knicks
leading, 92-90. Barbosa drove into the lane and really had no place to
go, defended tightly by the taller Martin near the foul line. As Barbosa
rose for the shot, Martin reached in for the block as Barbosa tried to
lift the ball over his head for the shot.
Martin’s
hand had plenty of ball, but he was still called for the foul with 1.2
seconds to play, and the crowd erupted in displeasure.
Asked if he fouled Barbosa on that play, Martin smiled and said, “Next question.”
Barbosa
calmly made both shots to tie the game. J. R. Smith (10 points) shot an
air ball 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded, sending the game into
overtime.
Anthony
made a spinning baseline jumper to pull the Knicks to within 88-87, but
Barbosa answered with a driving layup to put the Suns ahead by 3 again.
Martin slam-dunked a rebound off a Felton miss, and the Knicks were
back to within 1, 90-89.
The
Knicks took a 75-68 lead into the fourth quarter. This was a game of
spurts, and the Knicks had more of them. But the Suns were pesky.
Trailing by 52-43 at halftime, the Suns opened the third quarter with a
9-2 run that tied the game at 54-54.
Hardly
anyone expected the Suns to be formidable this season, but they have
been a surprising young team, led by Dragic and guard Eric Bledsoe. Even
though Bledsoe is expected to miss the next four to six weeks following
knee surgery, the Suns are still hoping to make the playoffs.
So are the Knicks. Winning games like this will help their chances.
REBOUNDS
Tyson
Chandler (upper respiratory infection) missed his fourth consecutive
game, but Coach Mike Woodson thought Chandler might play Tuesday night
in Charlotte. “It was serious,” Woodson said. “He was in the bed for a
while. He’s now up and around and was at the gym yesterday. We’ll see
how he feels (Tuesday) and then go from there.” ... Woodson is hoping J.
R. Smith got the message after being benched last week against the
Heat. “J. R. and I spoke, and the bottom line is he’s got to be more of a
pro and do the right things and just concentrate on playing
basketball,” Woodson said.
Brooklyn Beast.(A special thanks to NYTIMES.com for use of their article)
