Suns bludgeon Knicks for 15th consecutive win, 118-97
NEW YORK — There was no moral victory in the cards Friday night.
In a season in which no lead has been safe, for or against the Knicks, the Suns came to Madison Square Garden Friday night and stamped the drama out of the building in a 118-97 victory.
The Knicks (10-9) could not break through the Suns’ suffocating defense, and could do nothing to slow the offense that has carried Phoenix (16-3) to 15 straight wins. Coming off of an encouraging win over the Lakers (albeit without LeBron James) on Tuesday, the Knicks once again proved inconsistent. They have not won consecutive games since October.
The Suns got out to an early lead, starting 5 for 5 from the field to go up 8-3. The Knicks fought off the early onslaught, however, and remained competitive in the opening quarter thanks to a (relatively) strong offensive night from Kemba Walker, who went 5 for 11 from the field and 3 for 6 from 3 for 17 points. The fight would not go the distance.
The Knicks scored just seven points in the first nine minutes of the second quarter, and 17 in the period overall. The Suns blew the game open, taking advantage of Knicks turnovers to convert easy basket after easy basket. The game was not competitive again after that.
“They got a lot of confidence early,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said postgame, “and once they get confidence early they’re going to be tough to stop.”
Devin Booker had 21 points in the first half, and 11 more in the third quarter. For much of the game, the Knicks could not stay in front of him, and when they did, he rose up and hit difficult shots.
For the Knicks, the struggles continued for their best players. Julius Randle scored just nine points on 3-for-8 shooting, RJ Barrett scored 10 on 3-for-10 shooting, and Evan Fournier went 4 for 15 for 11 points. The Knicks offense was as disjointed as it’s looked all season, and every offensive possession was a slog.
There were faint bright spots for the Bockers, such as Immanuel Quickley netting 16 points on a nice 6-for-9 shooting to continue a strong run of recent play for the backup guard, but there’s very little praise to be had in a game in which no Knicks player had a positive plus/minus, and the bench was emptied long enough for 13 players to see action for New York.
Thibodeau downplayed schedule difficulties, with the game falling on Black Friday and no relief in the schedule. The Knicks have a back-to-back with a trip to Atlanta to play their freshly minted nemesis Trae Young and a Hawks team that has won seven straight (after losing six straight) Saturday night.
“We had a short break, two days and then Thanksgiving,” he said, “but you gotta keep your edge. That’s the challenge of the league, and sometimes the schedule’s in your favor, sometimes it’s not. But every night there could be an excuse. You don’t want to do that, you want to be ready to go.”
