OG! OG! OG! And KAT. And Bridges. And DEFENSE! NY 112 Phoenix 98

April 8, 2025 LouV 2024-25 0
OG 360-degree dunk

For the 2nd time in 2 nights, the Knicks ripped a well-coached, playoff bound team — this time the Phoenix Suns, 112-98 at the Garden on a Sunday night.

The night before NY had Thrashed the Quinn-Snyder-coached Atlanta Hawks, and on this the 2nd night of a back-to-back, the Knicks ripped the Mike-Budenholzer coached Suns — leading by 19 points in the 3rd and early in the 4th quarter before withstanding a Suns charge that brought them to within 5 pts with 3 minutes left.

OG Anunoby was the star of the game for NY — as he absolutely took over the 3rd quarter — playing tremendous D and hitting 3 after 3 and drive after drive, including spin moves and 360-degree slam dunks — en route to 32 pts on 13-17 shooting (6-8 from 3).

Earlier, Karl-Anthony Towns (19 pts on 7-13 shooting, 13 rebounds) had led the Knicks to a 10-pt lead in the 2nd quarter, and at the end when Phoenix pulled within 5 — Mikal Bridges (22 pts on 8-14 shooting (2-3 from 3) hit the big shots, as did Jalen Brunson — who was back for the first time after missing 15 games and was rusty throughout — until he hit a 3 with money on the table and 1:44 left.

And don’t forget the DEFENSE, from the likes of Josh Hart, Mitchell Robinson, and the 2nd team which included Miles McBride for the first time in 2 weeks (after the groin pull). The Knicks were at full force for the first time this year.

That Defense shutdown Phoenix — except for scoring-machine Devin Booker who had40 pts, and Bradley Beal who had 16 pts, many of them in the 4th quarter.

“I thought OG hit some timely buckets for us,” said coach Tom Thibodeau afterwards. “I thought our defense was pretty solid throughout. Booker had a huge game — he made some tough shots; he’s a great player. But I thought OG really competed with him; we were blitzing him all over the place and he was still making. They’re a very good offensive team. We flew around; I thought guys made 2nd and 3rd effort. We had good solid contributions from a number of guys; it was good to have everyone out there again.”

NY improves to 50-28; Phoenix drops to 35-43.

1. Brunson Back, As Is McBride

The great news for NY at the start of the game was that Jalen Brunson was back — after missing 15 games with the severe ankle injury. Miles McBride — out 2 weeks with a sore groin — was also back. Mitchell Robinson has been back — and played in this game after being rested the night before vs the Hawks.

So for the first time this year, the Knicks were at full complement.

Brunson was rusty most of the evening, until he hit a big 3 at the end. He scored 15 pts on 3-9 shooting (1-4 from 3; 8-10 in free throws) in 34 minutes. McBride finished with 8 pts on 3-6 shooting (2-4 from 3) in 16 minutes.

2. KAT Leads Knicks to 10-Pt Lead in 2nd Quarter

The Knicks held a 27-23 lead after 1 quarter, and then upped the lead to double digits as Karl-Anthony Towns started to have his way inside in the 2nd quarter against 7-footer Nick Richards and the Suns.

Towns hit a drive to start the quarter, then got to the line on successive drives, then went inside again and again for super athletic drives and buckets. His 4th bucket inside in the quarter put NY up 41-28.

Miles McBride was helping as was Mikal Bridges, while Devin Booker was doing most of the scoring for Phoenix. NY led 53-43 at the half.

3. OG TAKES OVER in the 3rd

And then came the 3rd quarter when OG Anunoby just absolutely took over.

OG hit a 3 early in the quarter to give NY a 59-48 lead. Booker hit a 3 on the other end, so OG came down and hit another 3 and NY was up 62-50.

Brunson stole the ball from Bradley Beal and fed OG for a drive and it was 64-50.

A minute later OG hit Another 3 and NY was up 70-57, and then another 3 and NY was up 73-57.

Then came an OG Dunk.

And then another OG 3 — and NY was up 78-61 with 3:42 left in the 3rd.

NY maintained that 17-pt lead heading into the 4th, as the Knick Defense — with Mitchell Robinson at the helm — was intense, and Brunson, Hart, Bridges, and Shamet (with a big 3) contributed scoring in the final minutes of the 3rd.

4. Phoenix Pulls Within 5 in 4th

Cameron Payne scored the first bucket of the 4th and NY was up by 19.

But Phoenix came back. They are well coached by Budenholzer and are on the edge of making the playoffs — they needed this game.

Bradley Beal went nuts at the start of the 4th — a drive, a step-back J, another drive after a Grayson Allen drive-and-1 — and just like that The Suns were within 10 with 7:27 left.

They kept coming — Beal again with a drive, Tyrus Jones free throws, and then another Beal drive and Phoenix was down 93-87 with 5:51 left.

OG Anunoby hit a 3 to push back the lead to 9 pts, but Devin Booker was fouled taking a 3 — hit 2 free throws and Phoenix was back within 6 with 4:26 left.

5. Bridges & Brunson Hit Big Shots at End

And that’s when Mikal Bridges stepped up — hitting a huge drive off a Brunson assist.

Nick Richards hit a drive-and-1 to pull Phoenix with 5 with 3:43 left — but Bridges again hit a J inside and NY was up 7.

Devin Booker made 2 free throws off a drive to pull Phoenix within 5 again with 3:12 left.

But again Bridges answered — getting to the line for 2 free throws to buoy the Knick lead back to 7 pts.

Then Bridges BLOCKED Bradley Beal’s drive — Phoenix got the offensive rebound — Beal took and missed a 3, and down the other end Jalen Brunson came down and hit a HUGE 3 for a 104-94 Knick lead with 1:44 left.

6. Chippy Game

It was a Chippy game with Physical play by Phoenix — especially down the stretch. Phoenix played a desperate defensive game, and the Knicks — Brunson and Hart — made free throws. With 40 seconds left, Josh Hart stole a Grayson Allen pass and fed OG for a 360-degree DUNK.

The Knicks got the ball back after a Ty Jones miss, and instead of walking out the clock — Josh Hart drove for a score — possibly because of the chippiness of the game.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401705706

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