Smith Lifts Knicks to Dramatic Win vs. Suns

KNICKS 99
SUNS 97

No one said the road to the best record in the NBA would be pretty.

The New York Knicks, who have seen a few struggles of late, found themselves in a battle against a young Phoenix Suns team that just about anyone would have expected New York to blow out. However, just 24 hours removed from their disappointing 100-94 loss to the Lakers on Christmas day the Knicks decided to sweat it out against the Suns.

As a result, New York gave us one of their most dramatic victories to date.

After a miserable third quarter that saw the Knicks blow a ten-point halftime lead, as the likes of Marcin Gortat (6 points - 3rd quarter), and Jared Dudley (9 points - 3rd quarter) dominated the perimeter for the Suns against a seemingly bewildered and tired Knicks squad.

Even though the Knicks were shorthanded with Carmelo Anthony sitting out the back-to-back, the Knicks remained tied with Phoenix after the third thanks to a huge jump shot by J.R. Smith to tie it at 76. The Knicks would be relying on the shooting of Smith for the rest of the night.

Smith and veteran point guard Jason Kidd soon took total control of this game, trading shots and blows and eating away at any small lead the Suns took. In total Kidd and Smith attempted 16 shots combined in the fourth quarter. The biggest statement coming from Kidd, the former Sun, who drained a three pointer to give the Knicks a 93-90 lead with 4:09 to play.

However, New York couldn't hold the lead. Sebastian Telfair's three-pointer and Shannon Brown's jumper brought Phoenix back to within a tie, 95-all with 1:15 left. After Dudley's pair of free throws gave the Suns a 97-95 lead, the Knicks turned to the best shooter on the floor in J.R. Smith and the vet didn't disappoint.

First Kidd found Smith underneath in the paint, and the shooting guard nailed the tying basket with 18 seconds to go. After a Phoenix turnover with only :01 second to go, Kidd had only one play, find J.R. Smith!

Surprisingly the Suns only had Smith in 1-on-1 containment, when double coverage would have been more appropriate. Kidd's in-bounds went right to Smith, who wasted little time in heaving up the shot which cleared net giving the Knicks the victory as the buzzer sounded. 

Overall, Smith had 27 points, while Kidd had 23 points in the victory. Tyson Chandler and Chris Copeland each had 14 as the Knicks improved to a league best 21-8.

Next up for New York a visit to the capital of California and a date with the Sacramento Kings, Friday night.