PHOENIX – Carmelo Anthony is their MVP but J.R. Smith is their Miracle Man.
With Melo out with a hyperextended knee and Raymond Felton gone for at least a month with a broken pinkie, Smith saved the night in the Valley of the Sun. Smith hit his second buzzer-beater of the season on a impossible catch-and-shoot off an inbounds pass from Jason Kidd. The miraculous bucket gave the shorthanded Knicks a stunning 99-97 victory over the Suns, spreading Christmas cheer one day late.
With one second left, Smith cut to the left corner and Kidd inbounded to the mercurial Sixth Man. Smith had no other play but fire up the off-balance 21-footer that rattled through, setting off a wild celebration. Earlier this month, in a similar scene, Smith nailed a buzzer-beater in Charlotte from the same corner.
The Knicks had gotten possession with 1 second left after Tyson Chandler forced a Sebastian Telfair turnover. “It was premeditated,’’ Smith said. “When I was walking on the court, I was like, you’re going to make it, you’re going to make it. I was trying to get my form ready and go through my mechanics in my head and let it fly.’’
The Knicks had never been this undermanned and Smith took it upon himself to be the hero all night.
Smith finished with 27 points on 11 of 27 shooting with 6 boards and 5 assists and countless hustle plays. He made crazy shots the entire game and saved the craziest for the last 11 seconds, draining two impossible jumpers over P.J. Tucker’s heavy contests..
Kidd, back at point guard for a while minus Felton, was brilliant with 23 points, 8 assists and 6 boards. “He loves that moment,’’ Kidd said. “I’m trying to figure out if that last moment was tougher than the (shot) before he took to tie the game.’’
Smith, when asked if this compared to the Charlotte buzzer-beater when Melo left the game with a cut finger, said, “This one’s better.’’
As he spoke to reporters, as if on cue, his mother called his cell phone. “I’ll call you right back, Ma,’’ said Smith.
When Smith came off the court, he was greeted wildly by his fallen mates, Anthony, and Amar’e Stoudemire in the tunnel. “It was big to see how high my teammates were,’’ Smith said. “Tyson, Jason Kidd. They’ve seen big shots before. For them to be excited made me feel good.’’’
Even Mike Woodson was grinning like a kid on Christmas despite the Felton bad news. “He was incredible,’’ said Woodson, whose club bounced back from the Christmas loss in LA to move to 21-8..
James White, who made his first Knicks start, had fouled Jared Dudley from behind on a jumper, sending the Suns sharpshooter (career-high 36 points) to the line where he sank two for a 97-95 Suns lead with 34.5 seconds left.
Smith answered right back, hitting a tough 20-foot fallaway over PJ Tucker from up top with 10.6 seconds – just one of a series of ridiculously tough shots he made. It tied the score at 97 and served as a foreshadow.
The Suns didn’t even get a shot off as Telfair had the ball knocked away as Chandler helped out and Telfar stepped out of bounds, giving the Knicks possession with 1 second left. They called time out.
When asked what he said in the huddle, Smith said, “Just give me the ball. Just give me the ball. I was so hyped and ready for it. It’s something I haven’t done in a while because we have Melo.’’
Kidd and Smith never spoke in the huddle. “We just looked at each other,’’ Kidd said. “I made sure he knew he was going to get the ball.’’
Woodson said he called two plays in the huddle – one for Smith to race into the left corner and one for a lob at the rim for Chandler.
“I think after you made a couple of them,’’ Woodson said., “he’d be mad at me if I didn’t put him in that position.’’
Smith said he has watched enough Michael Jordan buzzer-beaters to know how to act. Jordan, the Bobcats owner, visited the Knicks locker room after the Charlotte thriller. This time, he huddled with Melo alone in the off-limites trainer’s room, joking with him for 20 minutes.
With all the injuries, the starting lineup was not a unit of offensive gunners. The fivesome of Ronnie Brewer, Jason Kidd, James White, Kurt Thomas and Tyson Chandler combine to average 29.7 points total – one point less than Melo’s scoring average. Woodson was going with a defensive lineup and wanted to keep Smith in his role as Sixth Man. It worked as the Knicks took a 54-44 lead at halftime, shooting 50 percent, and they led by 14 midway through the third quarter.
Smith was hustling all over the place. Smith stole a pass and drove ahead of the field for a breakaway two-handed stuff to tie the score at 90 with 4:30 left. Smith again knocked away an entry pass as the Knicks took control. After Smith missed a jumper Chandler saved the possession, knocking it back out. Smith fed Kidd, who nailed a 3-pointer for a 93-90 lead with 4:09 left.
“He was steady from the beginning right up to the end,’’ Woodson said.
“I didn’t see anyone panicking,’’ Kidd said. “That’s the beauty of this team. Guys accept the challenge. He was up for it tonight. He’s been up for it all season.’’