New York Knicks' 'Low Energy' Loss to Phoenix Suns Goes Beyond Devin Booker

The New York Knicks' reliable defense fell short of another momentum-shifting victory against the Phoenix Suns thanks to Devin Booker's late heroics.

Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. Alas for Jalen Brunson, Devin Booker's tribute was poorly timed, at least from a New York Knicks perspective. 

Perhaps moved by Brunson's five-triple effort (en route to 35 points) that helped the Knicks erase a 15-point deficit in Sunday's visit from Phoenix Suns, Booker sank a game-winning three-pointer over the outstretched arms of RJ Barrett and Julius Randle in the penultimate second. That shot rendered the metropolitan comeback effort futile and forced the Knicks to deal with a 116-113 loss. It was his only successful three-pointer of the game and the last of his Phoenix-best 28 points.

If the Suns (11-6) fulfill the expectations placed upon them with Booker, Bradley Beal, and Kevin Durant in tow, Sunday's game at Madison Square Garden could be referenced as a turning point on the championship trek. Despite missing Beal (back) and Durant (foot) due to injuries, the Suns won their seventh in a row, one short of the longest streak in the NBA this season. 

Every war story, however, features a losing side and the Knicks were forced to fill that role on Sunday.

Randle, whose closeout afforded Booker just enough space to get the shot off cleanly, felt that nothing more could've been to avoid fate.

"He just made a great shot," Randle said, per Ian Begley of SNY. "Fading out of bounds, three-pointer over two people, you got to tap him on the butt and say, 'Great shot,' and he made a great shot. Ain’t really much you can do about it."

With the loss, the Knicks (9-7) saw a four-game MSG winning streak come to an end. They also missed out on a prime opportunity to win consecutive games against elite competition, having previously mastered Miami on Friday. 

Booker's buzzer-beater came directly in front of the Knicks' bench, where head coach Tom Thibodeau could only observe, powerless to stop his thunderous three. In the aftermath, Thibodeau appeared to hint that the failure to stop Booker was an appropriate culmination of a "low energy" effort, particularly on the defensive end.

"They beat us to the ball and that's usually a strength of ours," Thibodeau said, per Fred Katz of The Athletic. "We got in a hole, used a lot of energy to come back, and then couldn't finish it."

Booker's game-winner was the finishing touch of a heartbreaking Sunday for the Knicks / Wendell Cruz, USA TODAY SPORTS

Friday's win over Miami saw the Knicks rise from a 21-point deficit but they were unable to repeat the feat against the Suns. Phoenix's lead lasted the entire first half after it scored the first seven points of the game. The 116 points the Knicks gave up on Sunday were the most by an MSG visitor in the early stages of this season. New York hunkered down in the latter stages (allowing Phoenix to hit 8-of-20 in the fourth) but letting the Suns linger proved to be their undoing.

"Our initial defense was OK and then second and third effort (was) not there," Thibodeau continued, per Steve Popper of Newsday. "(We) let them pass the ball out of the double-team easily and then (were) slow, a step behind. You can’t give people confidence and then after a guy hits one, he shouldn’t get a second, third, and fourth one.”

To that end, several Suns stepped up alongside Booker with Beal and Durant ailing: Eric Gordon scored a season-best 25 thanks to a 6-of-9 outing from deep while Jordan Goodwin had 14 with seven rebounds and five assists off the bench. 

Another New York strength, rebounding, likewise crumbled: Phoenix earned an 18-13 advantage on the offensive glass, yielding 20 second chance points. Jusuf Nurkic and Drew Eubanks each had four. 

"We can’t let that happen," backup center Isaiah Hartenstein said in Begley's report. "That’s not anything the coaches can help with. That’s us doing a better job of not being outworked."

Things weren't much better on the offensive end: non-Brunson shooters were 12-of-30 over the first 24 minutes and the Knicks shot just 30 percent (6-of-20) in the last dozen. New York was also 2-of-5 from the foul line in that latter span ... a particularly glaring nugget in a three-point game.

Booker might've dealt the final blow. But the Knicks were quick to admit that most of the damage was self-inflicted. 

Suns' Devin Booker Cherishes 'Part of History' in Win Over Knicks

“It’s easy to say, ‘No KD, no Beal, one of those nights,’" Brunson said in Popper's report. “But those are the things that we can control. We can’t really control the ball going in the hoop. We can’t control the way the refs are calling the game. We can’t control that."

The Knicks won't have to wait long to atone for Sunday's shortcomings, as they'll be back in action on Tuesday against the Charlotte Hornets (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG).