PHOENIX – Cam Johnson banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to finish with a career-high 38 points and give the Phoenix Suns a wild 115-114 victory over the New York Knicks.
Johnson´s ninth 3-pointer in 12 tries came from 31 feet at the top of the key. The NBA-leading Suns, playing without All-Star guards Chris Paul and Devin Booker, improved to 51-12.
The Knicks looked as if they were headed for an impressive road win before Julius Randle´s ill-timed ejection in the third quarter in an exchange with Johnson.
New York blew a 14-point lead following Randle´s ejection, but Mitchell Robinson´s layup with 15 seconds left gave the Knicks a 113-112 lead.
Alec Burks added a free throw to give the Knicks a 114-112 advantage – but missed his second attempt – giving the Suns an opportunity in the final seconds.
Randle scored 25 points, and Robinson added 17 points and 15 rebounds.
Meanwhile, DeMarcus Cousins, starting in place of ailing Nikola Jokic, scored a season-high 31 points and the Denver Nuggets bounced back from a loss to beat the struggling Houston Rockets 116-101.
Jokic, the reigning MVP, was held out because of a non-COVID-19 illness.
Cousins, a midseason acquisition by the Nuggets following his release by Milwaukee, found out he was starting for Jokic during the pre-game shootaround.
“I was trying to take the best shots, trying to make the right play every possession,” Cousins said.
“I play the game the right way. It was very satisfying and it´s even better when you have a coach that believes in you, an organization that believes in you and teammates that have your back. That´s all I´ve been searching for on this journey. I´ve found that right now and like I said earlier, I´m going to leave everything on the floor.”
Elsewhere, Tyrese Maxey made five 3-pointers and scored 33 points to lead Philadelphia past Cleveland for its fifth straight victory, 125-119 over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The 76ers improved to 4-0 with James Harden in the lineup. Harden had 25 points and 11 assists. Joel Embiid added 22 points and nine rebounds.
Maxey, though, stole the show. The second-year guard out of Kentucky tore through the Cavaliers in the second half and seemingly turned Embiid and Harden into bystanders.
His best sequence came in the fourth. Maxey hit a 3 that gave the Sixers a one-point lead, then he hit a 3 off a pass from Harden on the break that made it 110-106 and had the Philly crowd going wild.
Darius Garland scored 28 points for the Cavaliers. They have lost six of seven.
Meanwhile, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points and 16 rebounds, Jrue Holiday came on strong down the stretch to finish with 26 points and help Milwaukee beat Chicago.
Holiday scored 10 points over the final five minutes as the defending champion Bucks tied the Bulls for the Central Division lead with their third straight victory.
Antetokounmpo made 12 of 22 shots and had five assists, helping make up for a 10-for-19 showing at the foul line. Khris Middleton scored 22 points as the Bucks beat Chicago for the 14th time in 15 games.
Zach LaVine led Chicago with 30 points. DeMar DeRozan scored 29 points, though he was 11 for 30 from the field.
Elsewhere, DeMarcus Cousins, starting in place of ailing Nikola Jokic, scored a season-high 31 points and Denver bounced back from a loss to beat Houston.
Jokic, the reigning MVP, was held out because of a non-COVID-19 illness.
JaMychal Green and Jeff Green each added 14 points apiece as Denver shook off a loss to Oklahoma City on Wednesday night for its seventh win in eight games.
Will Barton had 11 points, hitting two 3-pointers to become the pass JR Smith as the Nuggets´ career leader with 769.
