NEW YORK — Devin Booker knew the New York Knicks would make him give the ball up on the possession with the game on the line.
He was also certain he'd get it back to take the kind of shot he'd dreamed about his whole life. And as soon as the ball left his right hand, Booker had no doubt it was going in, providing the deciding points in a 116-113 victory at Madison Square Garden on Sunday that extended the Phoenix Suns' winning streak to seven games.
The last two of those wins came without co-superstar Kevin Durant, who was held out Sunday after a vigorous pregame workout to test his right foot soreness.
The Knicks, as anticipated, sent a second defender toward Booker to temporarily force the ball out of his hands. Guard Jordan Goodwin received the pass on the right wing, glanced to the corner to freeze the defense and quickly delivered a dribble handoff to Booker, who took a couple of dribbles before launching a 3-pointer inches away from the New York bench with Knicks forwards Julius Randle and RJ Barrett contesting. «For a game winner, I'm feeling I'm taking that shot unless they super blitz me to where I can't even see the hoop,» Booker told ESPN after his 28-point, 11-assist performance. «But any soft pressure like that, I feel like if I raise up and I have it on my right side that nobody can really get to it.