NEW YORK _ There are the tough games to lose and some you can't bear to lose. On Thursday, the Knicks were dealt the former, on Saturday night, they experienced the excruciating disappointment of the latter.
Carmelo Anthony's potential-game winning 3 swirled inside the rim and popped out at time expired as the Knicks fell to the Phoenix Suns, 107-105, at Madison Square Garden. The loss _ their 13th in last 16 games _ comes two days after dropping a close game to the Wizards, one that featured a missed call in the final seconds of the game.
The Knicks erased a 12-point second quarter deficit and led by 5 with a little less than three minutes left in the game, but could never get comfortable against the third-worst team in the league, and it cost them dearly when it counted the most. Devin Booker scored six points in the final two minutes, 19 seconds of the game _ including a 3-pointer with 31 seconds to go win it.
Derrick Rose missed a contested layup with 26 seconds remaining. By the time the Knicks got the ball back, there were 6.3 seconds left and the ball went to the logical choice. Anthony got a fairly clean look, but just missed. He scored 31 points, but none in the fourth quarter. Rose finished with 26.
Booker led the Suns with 26 points while Tyson Chandler had 16 rebounds and nine points.
Brandon Jennings hit two free throws early in the fourth quarter to break a tie at 90, but the Knicks could never quite muster any semblance of control. PJ Tucker's driving layup with 7:31 to go drew the Suns to within 97-96, but Rose's jumper put the Knicks up by three and Courtney Lee's dunk had them up 101-96.
The bright side _ if there could ever be such a thing _ was that the Knicks were barely clinging on in the second quarter.
The Suns went on a 12-2 second run to go up 54-42 before Anthony and Porzingis went back-to-back to cut the deficit to eight with two minutes left. Anthony hit two 3s _ sandwiching Devin Booker's 3 with 15 seconds left, to get the Knicks to within 61-55 at halftime.
The Knicks went to the line only once in the first half, while the Suns went 13-for-15 from the stripe. Phoenix led by as many as 12 in the second quarter, and scored 12 points on seven turnovers as the Knicks flailed on defense.
They were able to chip away in the third, tying it twice before finally creating some space in the waning seconds, after Hernangomez hit two free throws to knot it at 85. Lee hit a 3 in the next possession and Anthony's two free throws later put the Knicks up 90-87 with eight seconds to go. The Suns were resilient, though, and with time expiring, Marquese hit a straightaway 3 to tie it at 90 going into the fourth quarter.
It was the second heartbreaker in a row for the Knicks, though this might've stung even more than the Wizards on Thursday _ the one where Lee couldn't get off a potential game-tying shot because he was distracted by a Wizards assistant who had sidled up next to him on the court. The team was not assessed a technical foul, though the coach was later fined.
