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The New York Knicks were the NBA’s hottest team ahead of their Monday matchup against the Phoenix Suns, but their nine-game winning streak came to an end on the first day of the week at Madison Square Garden. The Suns claimed a 118-110 victory as the road team, and Devin Booker led the way with an impressive scoring performance.
Booker scored a game-high 33 points on 14-of-26 shooting and chipped in with four rebounds and four assists. While his hot shooting had a lot to do with his team’s success, he got plenty of help from two other starters.
Mikal Bridges and Chris Paul scored 21 and 20 points, respectively, and each shot 8-of-12. Paul matched Derrick Rose for a game-high six assists, while Cam Johnson and Cameron Payne chipped in with 11 points apiece off the bench. New York Usual studs didn’t rise to the occasion, though.
Julius Randle has carried the Knicks all year but scored 18 points on an abysmal 35% shooting. Rose surprisingly carried the offense with 22 points and six assists on 10-of-18 shooting off the bench, but RJ Barrett and Reggie Bullock contributed 17 points apiece.
The Knicks still command the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference and look the part of a playoff team, but the Western Conference’s second-best team was too hot to handle this time around. The Suns had been getting more of the action on the spread on DraftKings Sportsbook at -2.5 heading into the game. The Knicks were +120 on the ML but were receiving 54 percent of the bets with the handle split 51/49.