Knicks Drop Overtime Game in Phoenix
Kristaps Porzingis put on an absolute show and Kyle O’Quinn threw together another great performance, but New York was unable to secure a victory against Western Conference bottom-dweller Phoenix.
The Knicks started off this game molasses slow, trailing the Suns 16–7 just seven minutes into the game. Neither team looked particularly good up until this point, and the following 2o minutes told the exact same story.
At the 8:56 mark of the third quarter, the tide changed when Suns’ forward Marquese Chriss performed a not-so-gentle grab and shove on Porzingis’ back in the lane.
At the time this flagrant foul occurred, Porzingis had 14 points, but the shove seemed to have gotten the big man hyped up, as he went on to score a total of 34 points in the game.
In addition to Porzingis’ prowess, Kyle O’Quinn had probably, definitely, the best game of this season and his career. O’Quinn scored 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting and pulled down a team-high 14 rebounds.
What the shove did for Porzingis individually did not translate over to the Knicks immediately, however, and New York spent the rest of the third quarter pulling within a handful of points just to see the lead go back to around a dozen. That is exactly what happened in the final few minutes and the Knicks ended the third period down 12.
The fourth quarter began to tell a different story. New York held the Suns to only two points through the first four minutes, and took an 88–87 lead before Phoenix finally scored points three and four of the quarter to take the one point lead back with 7:21 remaining in the fourth.
Then. This happened:
The Knicks took the lead on that earth-shattering alley-oop, and it seemed like they finally had the momentum to finish out this disaster of a game so we could all go to sleep.
If it wasn’t the dunk that seemed to lock up the momentum, then it was this DEEP KP three.
Up four, less than five remaining, that has to be it, right?
Wrong.
A missed layup and turnover by Ron Baker, who really shouldn’t have to be in an NBA game during crunch time to be honest (Rose left by halftime due to reoccurring back spasms), opened the door for Phoenix who tied the game up at 101 with 1:46 remaining.
The Knicks actually, oddly, ran a great play that got Porzingis a good look, but his jumper fell short and the game headed to overtime.
Porzingis and O’Quinn continued their strong play in the extra period, but Porzingis fouled out immediately after hitting a three-pointer to put the Knicks up 108–105 with 1:54 remaining.
Eric Bledsoe hit the two foul shots granted from Porzingis’ foul, pulling Phoenix within one, and another Bledsoe bucket after an O’Quinn miss gave Phoenix the lead with 59 seconds remaining.
Carmelo Anthony, who was 3-of-15 on the evening, finally hit a shot in classic clutch fashion with 41 seconds remaining, but the Knick offense was unable to stop Phoenix on the other end, and Bledsoe gave Phoenix a lead they would not surrender again.
The Knicks’ final chance came on a solidly executed intentional missed free-throw by O’Quinn, but New York could not gather the ball and the game was surrendered.
— Bailey Carlin, site writer
Next up? The Golden State Warriors (some punks that things they’re also a SuperTeam). Until then, follow The Knicks Wall on Facebook and Twitter for more coverage and listen to this week’s Podcast on SoundCloud!
