Arizona is known for its dry heat, but the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson thrives in that climate.
The Knicks opened a pivotal five game road trip in style as they led wire to wire and routed the undermanned Phoenix Suns last night at Footprint Center, 138-122 for their fourth consecutive win.
The Suns were without the injured Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal but that didn’t matter to Brunson. The Knicks point guard shot 12 for 21, including 7 for 11 from three and poured in a game high 36 points with 10 assists.
Last December, Brunson was 9 for 9 from three and scored 50 points in the Knicks win at Footprint Center. In his last two games in Phoenix, the Knicks guard is 16 for 20 from beyond the arc.
Karl Anthony Towns scored 34 points, 23 in the second half, with 10 rebounds. Josh Hart scored 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting with 11 rebounds, 6 assists and three steals. Hart also hit some big buckets whenever the Suns tried to make a game of it in the second half.
“He’s [Hart] like a swiss army knife, there’s so many different things that he does. He can initiate offense, he moves well without the ball, plays fast, he can play in transition. He’s worked extremely hard on his shooting, he’s put a lot of time into it so I think that’s a positive for us,” Coach Tom Thibodeau said. “The hustle plays, I think that’s the big thing. He’s just got a knack of coming up with the ball. Those extra effort plays gives your team a lot of energy.”
The Knicks (9-6) led by as many as 24 points and were able to maintain a double digit lead throughout the second half. Devin Booker scored 33 points to lead the Suns, who hung around thanks to 19-three pointers but could never get closer than 11 points as Phoenix dropped their sixth straight game.
“They spread you out, they’re gonna shoot a lot of threes. You gotta fly around, you got a guy like [Devin] Booker, it requires everyone making a second, third, fourth effort and I thought we did that,” said Thibodeau.
The Knicks had 30 assists and shot 58% (50 for 86) from the floor and 49% from three (19 for 39) as they continue to display a cohesive offensive unit that allows multiple touches and puts the pressure on opposing defenses.
“The guys are starting to get used to playing off each other, Thibodeau said. “Each game you can see, they’re seeing things, they’re reading the game extremely well. They’re creating good spacing, they’re cutting extremely well and what that’s doing, it’s opening up the floor.”
Brunson set the tone by hitting his first two threes as the Knicks hit their first eight shots overall to take a 20-8 lead with just under eight minutes left in the first quarter.
The Knicks led 44-28 after one quarter as they shot 78% (18 for 23), including 8 for 11 from three. The 44 point output was the Knicks’ best first quarter of the season and it came without any free throws.
The Suns (9-7) did not commit their first personal foul until there was 7:32 left in the second quarter but it didn’t matter with the way the Knicks were executing their offense.
With a minute left in the second quarter, Brunson hit a three to give him 23 points and the Knicks biggest lead, 76-52. Phoenix scored the final six points of the first half, but the Knicks still had an 18 point lead, 76-58.
Early in the third quarter, Towns’ lay up put the Knicks up 83-60 but the Suns went on a 17-5 run, capped off by Ryan Dunn’s three that cut the Knicks lead to 88-77 with less than six minutes left.
On the ensuing possession, the Knicks turned it over but the Suns Grayson Allen missed a three that would’ve cut the lead to single digits, but Hart came down the floor and answered with the first of three consecutive three pointers. Brunson and Towns followed from beyond the arc to give the Knicks a 97-79 lead with less than four minutes left in the third quarter.
Jericho Sims’ dunk capped off an 11-2 run that put the Knicks back up by 20, 99-79 and they held a 110-93 lead after three.
In the fourth quarter, Booker completed a conventional three point play to cut the lead to 120-108 but Hart had another answer as he hit a driving lay up to up the lead to 14 and the Knicks coasted from there.
“They made a couple of runs but we withstood that and we answered every one of the runs and I think that’s important,” said Thibodeau.
The Knicks move on to Utah to play the 3-11 Jazz on Saturday with a 5 pm, eastern time tip off.
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