NBA -- J.R. Smith rescues Knicks from Suns

NEW YORK -- When the New York Knicks arrived in Phoenix without three key players -- Carmelo Anthony, Rasheed Wallace and Raymond Felton -- the host Suns appeared poised for an easy victory.

But J.R. Smith got in the way. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound guard swished a jumper in the final 10.6 seconds of play to knot the count at 95-95. And after the Suns' Sebastain Telfair turned over the ball in the ensuing play, Smith got a beautiful bounce pass from Jason Kidd and sank the winning basket that lifted New York to a thrilling 97-95 triumph at the US Airways Center.

"When I was walking on the court I was like, Man, you're going to make it, you're going to make it," Smith told the New York Times of his heroic last play that lifted the Knicks to 21-8, second-best in the Eastern Conference behind the rolling 20-6 Miami Heat.

Besides Smith's 27 points, Kidd also starred for New York with 23 points, six rebounds and eight assists. Tyson Chandler finished with 14 and 12 rebounds for the Knicks, who went 40-of-88 from the field (45.5 percent) and 9-for-22 from three-point range (40.9 percent).

Jared Dudley had a spectacular night for the 11-18 Suns, making 5-of-8 triples for a game-high 36 points. Marcian Gortat chipped in 13 and nine rebounds. (RS)