New York Knicks – Phoenix Suns · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 4 March 2022

NYK114–115PHX

Is it worth watching?

Highly recommended

It was more exciting than 92% of NBA games since 2017

· It was still open in the final minutes

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ PHX winsNYK wins ↓

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when PHX leads and falls when NYK does.

This is how the game was decided.

Cameron Johnson decided it, the Phoenix Suns player with the most points (38, with 2 rebounds and 0 assists; +9 with him on the floor); the winner's best plus-minus was Cameron Payne's (+10). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

The game-winner in Phoenix Suns 115-114 New York Knicks (March 4, 2022) was hit by Cameron Johnson: a three-pointer with 1.2 s left in the fourth quarter, putting the Phoenix Suns up 115-114. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of Phoenix Suns 115-114 New York Knicks (March 4, 2022) was a 9-0 run by the Phoenix Suns in the fourth quarter (from 11:06 to 9:50), from 81-95 to 90-95. The New York Knicks' best was a 7-0 run in the first quarter (from 3:57 to 3:16), from 14-20 to 21-20.

What were the keys of the last Phoenix Suns vs New York Knicks game?

▸See where these figures come from

Play: Cameron Johnson makes 31-foot three point shot (Cameron Payne assists).

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

Cameron Johnson decided this game: his points put his team ahead with 1.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and the opponent never led again.

It is the only game he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games Johnson decided

▸See where these figures come from

A game is decided by the last basket that puts a team ahead in the final ten seconds of the fourth quarter or of an overtime, if that team wins.

4 March 2022 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401360772:678; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · NYK

Barrett · Robinson · Burks · Quickley · Reddish

Closing lineup · PHX

Bridges · Ayton · Payne · Crowder · Johnson

Q1Q2Q3Q4

NYK

RJ Barrett

44′ · -12

Mitchell Robinson

37′ · -2

Evan Fournier

36′ · +8

Alec Burks

35′ · +12

Julius Randle

28′ · +8

Immanuel Quickley

27′ · -2

Jericho Sims

11′ · +1

Cam Reddish

14′ · -15

Miles McBride

8′ · -3

PHX

Mikal Bridges

39′ · -5

Deandre Ayton

34′ · -2

Cameron Payne

32′ · +10

Jae Crowder

30′ · 0

Landry Shamet

28′ · +6

Cameron Johnson

28′ · +9

Aaron Holiday

15′ · -7

Torrey Craig

16′ · -9

JaVale McGee

7′ · +2

Ish Wainright

2′ · +1

Bismack Biyombo

8′ · 0

Each bar is a stint on the floor (source: NBA). The number is minutes played and the team's +/− with him on the court. NYK and PHX.

These lineups played the most minutes together.

New York Knicks

Robinson, Barrett, Burks, Fournier, and Randle played 21.2 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Robinson, Barrett, Quickley, Burks, and Fournier played 5.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Barrett, Reddish, Quickley, McBride, and Sims played 4.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.

Phoenix Suns

Payne, Bridges, Shamet, Ayton, and Crowder played 13.0 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Payne, Bridges, Ayton, Johnson, and Crowder played 8.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 10 points.
Bridges, Holiday, Ayton, Johnson, and Crowder played 4.5 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 5 points.

▸See every lineup of the game

New York Knicks

Robinson, Barrett, Reddish, Quickley, and McBride played 3.6 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 5 points.
Robinson, Quickley, Burks, Fournier, and Randle played 2.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 9 points.
Barrett, Quickley, Sims, Burks, and Fournier played 2.5 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 5 points.
Robinson, Barrett, Reddish, Quickley, and Burks played 2.5 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Barrett, Reddish, Quickley, Sims, and Fournier played 1.8 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 6 points.
Barrett, Reddish, Quickley, Sims, and Randle played 1.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Quickley, Sims, Burks, Fournier, and Randle played 1.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.

Phoenix Suns

Payne, Craig, Shamet, Johnson, and Biyombo played 4.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 8 points.
Payne, Craig, Shamet, Johnson, and McGee played 3.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Craig, Bridges, Holiday, Johnson, and Biyombo played 2.9 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 5 points.
Bridges, Holiday, Shamet, Ayton, and Crowder played 2.7 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Craig, Holiday, Shamet, Wainright, and McGee played 1.8 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Payne, Bridges, Shamet, Ayton, and Johnson played 1.5 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Craig, Bridges, Holiday, Shamet, and McGee played 1.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Payne, Craig, Bridges, Ayton, and Johnson played 1.4 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Bridges, Holiday, Ayton, Johnson, and Biyombo played 1.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.

▸See where these figures come from

The lineups come from the NBA's official rotation: who was on the floor and when. Each lineup's plus-minus is worked out from every player's stints and is only shown when they all add up with each other and with the final score.

RJ Barrett covered 5.49 km, more than anyone in the game.

Cameron Payne touched the ball 85 times, a game high.
Cameron Payne made 61 passes, a game high.
Deandre Ayton defended 7 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 3.
Mitchell Robinson had 23 rebound chances, a game high.

▸See what was measured for each player

New York Knicks

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
RJ Barrett	5.49	7.0	83	48
Evan Fournier	4.41	7.0	38	24
Mitchell Robinson	4.23	6.5	46	37
Alec Burks	4.15	6.6	69	55
Julius Randle	3.44	6.9	66	37
Immanuel Quickley	3.20	6.6	55	45
Cam Reddish	1.67	6.5	12	6
Jericho Sims	1.30	6.4	11	8
Miles McBride	0.98	7.0	6	5

Phoenix Suns

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Mikal Bridges	4.79	7.0	46	29
Cameron Payne	3.91	6.8	85	61
Landry Shamet	3.75	7.5	30	24
Deandre Ayton	3.75	6.2	42	32
Jae Crowder	3.62	6.8	49

The figures come from the NBA's optical tracking (NBA.com) for this game; speed is each player's average while on the floor.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2021-22 regular season, not this game.

New York Knicks

RJ Barrett recovered 0.9 loose balls per game over his 70 games.
He ranks 30 of 386 in the league.
Mitchell Robinson defended 4.1 shots at the rim per game over his 72 games, and opponents made 10 fewer out of every 100 than usual.
He ranks 12 of 131 in the league.
Cam Reddish deflected 2.3 passes per game over his 48 games.
He ranks 36 of 386 in the league.

Phoenix Suns

Deandre Ayton contested 11.4 shots per game over his 58 games.
He ranks 7 of 386 in the league.
JaVale McGee defended 4.2 shots at the rim per game over his 74 games, and opponents made 11 fewer out of every 100 than usual.
He ranks 9 of 131 in the league.
Jae Crowder deflected 2.2 passes per game over his 67 games.
He ranks 42 of 386 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The Phoenix Suns have won 74 of their 142 games against the New York Knicks.

74-68record of the Phoenix Suns · NBA 1968-69 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

2-0in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 1968-69 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Attendance

17.071

100% of capacity

Mortgage Matchup Center · Phoenix

Scoring

229

combined points

7.8 above the season average (221.2)

⚖️ The last two minutes

Official NBA L2M report: every call in the endgame, reviewed by the league.

11 calls reviewed1 errors admitted by the NBA

Foul: Shooting · 00:18.5

Mikal Bridges → RJ Barrett

Bridges (PHX) has an arm around Barrett's (NYK) body and he initiates further body contact that affects his driving shot attempt.