Defense
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 to only four points. Carmelo Anthony (29 points, 16 rebounds) led the way, but Kenyon Martin (8 points, 9 rebounds) was also stellar defensively.
With the Suns trailing by three points with 40 seconds left in overtime, the Knicks put Martin on 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 was 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. Leandro Barbosa (21 points) also spent the fourth quarter creating openings and knocking down shots.
But the Suns were finishing up a five-game road trip, and the Knicks seemed a step quicker in overtime. Anthony's alley-oop dunk off a pass from Martin gave the Knicks a two-point lead to open the scoring in the extra periods. 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 three-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, 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, as the crowd erupted in displeasure.
Barbosa calmly made both shots to tie the game. J. R. Smith (10 points) shot an air ball 3-pointer as the fourth quarter 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 three again. Martin slam-dunked a rebound off a Felton miss, and the Knicks were back to within one, 90-89.
Both teams went cold over the next 90 seconds, and the Knicks still trailed, 90-89 with a minute to play. But then Anthony made a nice play, making a move to the basket before kicking the ball to an open Raymond Felton in the far corner. Felton buried the 3-pointer, putter the Knicks ahead, 92-90, with 53.1 seconds to play.
The Suns called a timeout, but it did not help. Gerald Green backed into the lane, but he missed a turnaround 12-footer, and the Knicks rebounded. Anthony had a chance to put the Knicks ahead by four, but he missed a 20-footer, and the Suns rebounded and called timeout with 10.8 seconds to play setting up the final sequence of regulation
The Knicks took a 75-68 lead into the fourth quarter. This was a game of spurts, but the Knicks had more of them. But the Suns were pesky. Trailing 52-43 at halftime, the Suns opened the third quarter with a 9-2 run that tied the game at 54. Hardly anyone expected the Suns to be a formidable team this season, but they have been a surprising young team, led by guards 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
Knicks center 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. 'He was in the bed for awhile. 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.
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