Phoenix only needed one of its Big 3 to bury the Knicks.
Devin Booker — playing without the assistance of injured teammates Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal — nailed a game-winning 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds remaining Sunday at Madison Square Garden, countering another gem from Jalen Brunson as the Knicks lost a thriller, 116-113.
Brunson tied the score on the previous possession with 21.9 seconds left, driving past Suns center Jusuf Nurkic to give the point guard a game-high 35 points.
But that also left plenty of time for magic from Booker, who got a switch off a dribble-handoff and elevated over Julius Randle and RJ Barrett for the fadeaway trey.
“He just made a great shot,” Randle said. “Fading out of bounds. Three-pointer over two people. You got to tap him on the butt and say great shot. Ain’t really much you can do about it.”
Ironically, Booker’s winner occurred in almost the exact same spot — and almost the same kind of shot — as Jimmy Butler’s game-winning attempt two nights earlier at MSG.
The difference was Butler’s bricked, and Booker’s splashed through the net.
“It was a shot I’ve imagined in my head multiple times,” said Booker, who said he was motivated by playing at the Garden with his family in town.
Tom Thibodeau’s squad had a slim chance to recover after Booker’s trey, but Brunson’s 30-foot heave bounced off the rim as the crowd groaned “Ahhh.”
The Knicks (9-7) failed to recreate their MSG magic of two nights earlier — when they recovered from a 21-point deficit to beat Miami — and have now dropped two of their last three.
Booker finished with 28 points and made the right decision to elevate for a trey rather than drive on Randle.
“I’ve been in that situation so many times,” Booker said of his game-winning shot. “I’ve tried to drive but it’s hard to get any contact especially on the road, it’s 90 percent you’re not gonna get the call even if you get fouled. So it felt good. It felt like a good shot.”
Before the thrilling finish, the Knicks had the game in their hands. All they had to do was execute offensively, and instead followed with a series of missed field goals, a turnover and missed foul shots in the final six minutes.
They shot just 30 percent in the fourth quarter.
Brunson, fresh off his clutch heroics in the Heat victory, again carried the home team while shooting 15-for-25.
Randle, meanwhile, rode the struggle bus before a powerful third quarter, when the Knicks took their first lead of the game on his layup. Randle, misfiring on his jumper, turned aggressive after halftime by pushing the ball into the paint and using his strength to finish. He scored 17 of his 28 points in the third quarter.
“Just got involved,” Randle said, “got into the paint.”
The Knicks seemingly caught a break — a big break — when Durant was ruled out because of a sore foot. The future Hall of Famer practiced Saturday and warmed up before the game, signing autographs for fans, including Spike Lee.
But Durant, a peerless midrange scorer in the NBA, went from “questionable” to “out” before tipoff, missing his second straight game with an injury to the same foot that underwent surgery in 2019 to repair a torn Achilles.
Barring a Knicks-Suns NBA Finals (or another midseason trade), it’ll be the second straight season the 35-year-old doesn’t play at MSG.
The Suns (11-6) were already missing Beal, the high-priced guard who has been sidelined all but three games with a strained back.
They started Josh Okogie and Keita Bates-Diop, hardly the same level as Durant and Beal.
In the end, it didn’t matter. RJ Barrett (nine points, 31 minutes) struggled. Quentin Grimes (three points) did nothing. Mitchell Robinson was outplayed by Nurkic.
The Suns led for the entire first half behind veteran Eric Gordon, who had 17 points at the break and finished with 25. The Knicks were also uncharacteristically outrebounded, 47-38, and ultimately bested by a clutch shot from Booker.
“Tough shot,” Thibodeau said.
