Suns’ Chris Paul schools young Knicks in how to close and snaps New York’s nine-game win streak

The young New York Knicks have accelerated their rebuilding efforts this season and remain in position to end their playoff drought. They learned how far they still have to go Monday.

The Knicks got a lesson in late-game execution, with Phoenix Suns star point guard Chris Paul putting on a master class in closing to snap New York's win streak at nine games. Paul scored the Suns' last seven points in the final 90 seconds to close the door on the Knicks' late surge and secure a 118-110 victory.

"This is a fun team. Great group of guys to be around. And there's no better place to play than here, the energy here at the Garden," Paul said. "Everybody was messing with the young guys before the game like, 'This ain't just a regular game.' And the way that team's playing over there, this was a fun game."

NBA ESSENTIALS:SCORES | SCHEDULE | STANDINGS

After scoring the final 7 points in the win at MSG… look back at the best of @CP3 in the clutch for the @Suns! pic.twitter.com/MKgNhb732r

The Knicks came into the game the talk of the NBA, riding their longest win streak since 2013. They started hot and led by as many as 15 in the first half.

The Suns turned things around after the break and took their first lead late in the third quarter. It stayed close for much of the fourth before Paul took control late. After Julius Randle pulled the Knicks within 113-110 with just over a minute left, Paul hit a juggling pull-up jumper in response. New York turned it over, and Paul knocked down a 3 from the top of the key for a 118-110 lead with 14.5 seconds left.

"We wanted this one. We wanted this one bad, just for ourselves," said Devin Booker, who had a game-high 33 points for the Suns. "Obviously we knew about the streak that they had going on and we knew that this was going to be a dogfight."

Source: Read Full Article