PHOENIX _ Lance Thomas had seen enough. He had seen enough of the Knicks playing poor defense on this long road trip. So the veteran did something about it.
According to MSG Network, Thomas and Courtney Lee called a players-only meeting on Friday before the Knicks faced the Suns in the finale of a seven-game trip.
Did it help? Probably. It also helped that the Knicks were facing a struggling Suns team that had lost five of six coming in.
Whatever the reason, the Knicks ended the trip on a high note with a 107-85 victory at Talking Stick Resort Arena.
Enes Kanter had 20 points and 10 rebounds as the Knicks (22-28) finished the trip 3-4. Kristaps Porzingis scored 19 and Tim Hardaway Jr. had 15 points despite taking two hard falls.
Third-string point guard Trey Burke had his second straight 18-point game, with 16 of them coming in the fourth quarter.
T.J. Warren's 20 points led the Suns (17-32).
The Knicks had lost three in a row and 14 of 18. Now they get to rest until Tuesday, when they return to the Garden to host the Nets before hitting the road again.
The Knicks were coming off their worst defensive effort of the season in a 130-118 loss at Denver on Thursday. The Knicks allowed 73 points in the first half and a season-high points total for the game, leaving coach Jeff Hornacek exasperated and Thomas repeating "we've got to play harder" in the postgame locker room.
"It's taking the challenge, individually and collectively," said Thomas before the Knicks boarded the plane to Phoenix. "We've got to play harder. We're not making excuses or anything. We need to play harder."
And they did. The Knicks were playing their third game in four nights, but they were the fresher team at the start. The Knicks took a 22-7 lead less than five minutes into the game. Kanter had 10 points. He finished the quarter with 15 and the Knicks took a 33-23 lead into the second.
It was a stark difference from Thursday's first quarter in Denver, when the Knicks allowed 39 points, including 20 in the paint.
Hardaway, who returned after resting on Thursday, gave the Knicks a scare when he went down 6:19 into the game and grabbed his right ankle. But he stayed in the game.
As happens in the NBA, the Suns made a run all the way back to even, tying the game at 39 with 6:34 left in the half. The Knicks regained the lead on Hardaway's 3-pointer and took a 53-49 advantage into halftime before they started to pull away in the third, going up by as many as 16.
Hardaway went down again hard with 8:55 left in the quarter as he was pulled down from behind by Suns guard Devin Booker on a breakaway attempt. Booker was called for a flagrant foul 1.
Hardaway, after spending a long time down behind the basket, limped to the free-throw line and hit two shots to give the Knicks a 64-51 lead. He then went back to the locker room to get checked out before returning to the floor.
Booker was assessed his second technical and was ejected less than five minutes later after an altercation with Kanter under the Knicks basket. Kanter, who also was called for a technical, had blocked Booker's shot and then appeared to say something to Booker, who reacted with a bump and shove.
Thomas nailed a long jumper with one second left in the third to give the Knicks an 81-67 lead heading into the fourth. The Knicks scored the first eight points of the fourth, including six in row by Burke, to go up by 23. Burke had 18 points and 11 assists on Thursday.
