The New York Knicks went to battle but succumbed to a lopsided loss against the Phoenix Suns on Friday night in a game where tensions ran high. Despite the defeat and the many scuffles, the team still managed to make an impression on Suns guard Chris Paul who had surprisingly high praise for the Knicks and how they played on the floor against his team, per Steve Popper.
This probably won't appease Knicks fans tonight, but Chris Paul had high praise for the Knicks afterward: "That team right there, they play the right way. They play with the right energy. They make every game feel like a playoff game. They don't take any possessions off."
— Steve Popper (@StevePopper) May 8, 2021
The kind words showed how Paul can compartmentalize the game from real life, as the encounter between the two teams turned out to be chippy. Both sides were equally eager to grab the win on Friday night. Midway through the fourth quarter, Paul got roughly entangled with Knicks forward Taj Gibson as the latter was eventually called for a flagrant one foul due to the incident.
CP3 wasn’t having it after this hard foul by Taj Gibson 😳
Gibson was called for a flagrant 1 pic.twitter.com/ZfESNT5WkI
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 8, 2021
Still, both players managed to sort out their differences after the game as they acknowledged each other's competitiveness on the floor.
Taj Gibson, World Wide Wes, and Leon Rose making amends with Chris Paul after the game pic.twitter.com/T3wkIpBYfq
— KNICKS ON MSG (@KnicksMSGN) May 8, 2021
Despite being the clear underdog team, the Knicks still managed to put up a fight led by Julius Randle who notched 24 points and 11 rebounds. However, it wasn't enough as Paul and the Suns saw seven of their players reach double-digits in scoring.
Phoenix cruised to a 128-105 victory as they improved to a 48-19 record for the second spot in the Western Conference. On the other hand, the Knicks remained at the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference as they dropped to a 37-30 record.
Indeed, the 2020-21 season has already seen a huge improvement from a Knicks side that went through several losing campaigns in recent years. Hopefully, they will get to continue their strong showing as they aim to make noise heading to their first postseason appearance since 2012-13.
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