The New York Knicks played carefree at the Phoenix Suns Arena.
Then suddenly Phoenix made her uncomfortable.
Very uncomfortable.
Phoenix prevailed against New York by a 9-0 lead in the last 50.7 seconds of the third quarter towards the end of the third game day and scored an atomic comeback win of 128-105 on Friday evening before a season high of 8,063 enthusiastic fans.
After a 32-point loss in Atlanta on Wednesday, Phoenix remains one game behind Utah for first place in the West when Utah beat Denver (127-120) at home on Friday.
For almost three-quarters of the time, it looked like the suns were falling in a rematch with the Knicks to drop two games behind the Jazz.
New York played confidently. Hit blows.
Phoenix didn’t fire and seemed insane.
Then, just like in extension of Tuesday’s Cleveland victory, the Suns took it to another level, converting a seven-point deficit to a two-point advantage in less than a minute.
- 50.7 seconds: Frank Kaminsky dismissed Devin Booker as an assistant. Suns 88-83
- 30.5 seconds: Cameron Payne 3-hand. Suns 88-86.
- 2.2 seconds: Torrey Craig follow up from Booker Miss. 88-88.
- 1.0 seconds: Payne steals RJ Barrett’s inbound pass, scores. Suns lead 90-88.
That spike not only got Phoenix up two past 11, it got the crowd going and sparked the momentum of the suns, which Jae Crowder further fueled with a 3 to kick off the fourth quarter.
More of that should come.
Phoenix shot 8 out of 12 out of 3 in the fourth quarter after winning 10 out of 29 in the first three quarters. Crowder returned from an ankle injury that sidelined him eight games and shot 6 out of 12 out of 3 when he came off the bench with 18 points.
Deandre Ayton went up and down with 26 points and 15 rebounds.
Do you have an opinion on the current state of the sun? Reach Sun’s Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.
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