Phoenix Suns (4-4) v New York Knicks (3-4)
Friday 11/3/2017 4:00pm
Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
Arizona Sports 98.7FM/Fox Sports Arizona
2017-18 – Series tied 0-0
All-Time Series – Series is tied at 62
Last Matchup – Suns won 107-105
Suns’ Last Game – Win over the Washington Wizards 122-116
Knicks’ Last Game – Loss to the Houston Rockets 119-97
2017-18 Suns’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 107.4 (10th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 116.6 (29th of 30)
2017-18 Knicks’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 102.0 (23rd of 30) Opp PTS/G: 105.1 (13th of 30)
When the Suns began their current east coast road trip, excitement was high after the Suns won their first two games under interim head coach Jay Triano. Phoenix lost their first game to the Portland Trail Blazers by seven, although they never fell behind by double-digits and the loss was a far cry from the opening night drubbing that was truly one of historic proportions.
They rebounded and have won their first two games of of a three game east coast swing before this matchup with the New York Knicks which leads into the trip finale in San Antonio.
Phoenix came out firing blanks in Washington ending the first quarter down 32-15 and falling behind by as many as 22 points in the second quarter.
But unlike under the team’s m.o. under Earl Watson, the Suns quickly made adjustments and slowly but surely clawed their way back into the game, eventually overcoming the more talented Washington Wizards (at least on paper) and stealing a 122-116 victory.
T.J. Warren was the story of the night as he nearly single-handedly brought the Suns back from the seeming abyss scoring 40 points (all in the second half) and grabbing 10 rebounds. His has a unique ability to be in the right place at the right time on rebounds allowing him to score many points on putbacks, as well as his ability to get the the rim with the ball even when he begins his drive at the 3-point line. Each of these offensive skills makes him the very kind of natural scorer that is needed to take scoring pressure off of Devin Booker.
Until the Suns find a third confident and capable scorer, this could be the Devin Booker and T.J. Warren show.
The Suns swing into New York to take on a Knicks team who appears to be just as lost as the Suns were up until a week ago. Things have never really materialized in New York under Jeff Hornacek the way they had hoped, and of course now without Carmelo Anthony the franchise literally has to try and remake itself and discover it’s basketball soul without their former superstar (and ball dominant player) on the roster.
That is not to say that Kristaps Porzingis is not a force to be reckoned with and is a matchup nightmare defensively for any team. Averaging an astounding 27.9 points so far this season (in five of his seven games he has scored 30 points or more), Porzingis has surpassed his scoring average by nearly nine points per game so far over last season, whilst also shooting a much better field goal percentage than in his previous two years. Porzingis is further averaging a career-high 7.9 rebounds per game while recording at least one block in six of the seven games this season.
Even under Earl Watson, Phoenix swept the Knicks last season in two games (finishing 2-1 against him), winning each matchup by two points.
Interesting Stats
Phoenix Suns
1. The New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors are the only two teams that Phoenix swept in 2016-17 under Watson.
2. Last season the Suns were swept by 11 teams. They have already won a game against three of those teams (Brooklyn, Utah, and Washington) under Jay Triano.
3. For all of the team’s improvements thus far (and there are many), the Suns are still allowing 109.4 per game to opponents under Triano (Although they averaged 128.7 under Watson). Although the Suns are still the 29th worst defensive scoring team in the league by allowing 116.6 points per game, if you could take out the three Watson-led games, the 109.4 points under Triano would still only place them at 25th overall. If you take out the one game against Utah where the Jazz scored only 88 points (their m.o. for sure), the Suns under Triano would still sit at 29th in the league in scoring allowed. All of which is a major improvement for sure, yet still not likely to allow for sustained success. (To be fair, it is not impossible: the 1988-89 Suns in Cotton Fitzsimmons’ first year back as head coach, finished 55-27 while still allowing 110.9 points per game, although they averaged 118.6 themselves.)
Next: Bender or Chriss: Who should start?
New York Knicks
1. The New York Knicks are likely better than their record of 3-4 might appear to make them look. Three of their losses have come to perceived league powerhouses Oklahoma City (by 21), Boston (21), and Houston (22), although of their three wins they have defeated both Cleveland (by 19) and Denver (6).
2. In seven games, Kristaps Porzingis has already scored 30 points or more five times. He had only three such games in his career prior to this season, each of them coming last year. His career-high of 38 came in the team’s victory over the Denver Nuggets on October 30.
3. If the Suns defeat the New York Knicks, they will guarantee a winning record on their five game road trip. If this occurs, it will be the first time that they have had a winning record on a road trip of at least five games since November 15-24, 2014 when they finished 4-2 on a six-game mostly Eastern Conference swing.