Knicks 99, Suns 97: J.R. Smith hit a jump shot at the buzzer as New York handed host Phoenix its third consecutive loss.
The Knicks scored nine straight points for a 95-90 lead, but the Suns answered with seven in a row to move in front before Smith's jumper with 10.6 seconds to play forged a 97-97 tie. Sebastian Telfair stepped out of bounds with one second left, and Smith took an inbound pass from Jason Kidd and buried another jumper to avoid overtime.
Smith scored a team-high 27 points off the bench and Kidd added and eight assists for New York, which played without Carmelo Anthony (hyperextended knee) and Raymond Felton (finger).
Jared Dudley was 5-of-8 from 3-point range en route to a game-high 36 points and Marcin Gortat contributed 13 and nine rebounds for the Suns, who had won seven of eight at home against the Knicks.
New York held a 10-point lead at halftime and increased it to 14 midway through the third quarter, but the Suns went on a 20-4 run to jump ahead 74-72 with 1:23 remaining in the period. Dudley hit a 3-pointer with 6:12 left in the fourth and made three free throws less than a minute later to give Phoenix a 90-86 advantage.
GAME NOTEBOOK: C Tyson Chandler recorded 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Knicks, who avoided losing consecutive games for just the second time this season. ... Gortat has started 106 consecutive games. ... Phoenix remained two wins shy of the 2,000th in franchise history.
New York | Phoenix | |
JR Smith 27 | Scoring | Jared Dudley 36 |
Jason Kidd 8 | Assists | Shannon Brown 4 |
Tyson Chandler 12 | Rebounds | Marcin Gortat 9 |
JR Smith 5 | Free Throws Made | Jared Dudley 9 |
JR Smith 5 | Steals | Sebastian Telfair 3 |
Tyson Chandler 2 | Blocks | Marcin Gortat 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
New York | 99 | 45.5 | 9-22 | 10-14 | 21 | 41 | 6 | 8 | 11 |
Phoenix | 97 | 45.8 | 8-21 | 13-16 | 21 | 38 | 5 | 7 | 14 |