After 2 big wins, Suns keeping right mindset with Knicks in town

PHOENIX — The comedown almost feels inevitable. The 14-51 Phoenix Suns are coming off two big wins at home against the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks.

Up next on Wednesday night are the New York Knicks, one of the league’s worst teams and debatably the least-talented roster around.

It’s a fascinating game in terms of timing.

The Suns are riding high but they are extremely young. If they play to even 75 percent of the capability they showed in those victories, they should handle the Knicks with ease.

But can they? The Suns were aware of the potential hurdles they face in a “trap game” if a 14-51 team could even have one at shootaround.

“I mean, it’s the NBA,” shooting guard Devin Booker said. “Every game’s gonna be a tough matchup and I don’t think we’re in the position where we can take games off, either.

“We’re getting better these last four games or so. We’ve improved tremendously on both ends of the floor and we’re just going to try to stay with that the rest of the season.”

The Suns have won three of four, and that one loss against the New Orleans Pelicans Friday was a game wing Mikal Bridges noted the Suns should have won had they avoided getting too comfortable.

“Every team is beatable,” Bridges said, noting that he means that both for the Suns’ opposition and themselves.

With this stretch at the beginning of March and a run in late December when they won five of seven, the Suns have seen two different periods where they are capable of beating any team.

That wasn’t quite possible for last year’s team but this year’s roster is much, much more talented and sees what they are capable of when things click.

“I think we can win a lot of games towards the end of the season if we keep playing the right way and how we’ve been playing the last couple of games,” Bridges said.

JOHNSON ADDS ROTATION QUESTIONS

The addition of Tyler Johnson is a no-doubt plus for the Suns. As Booker said himself, it allows him to play off the ball more, on top of everything else Johnson does on the floor.

But his arrival and place in the starting lineup adds rotation questions, even with forward T.J. Warren set to miss his 17th straight game.

Behind Johnson and Booker on the bench lie Jamal Crawford, De’Anthony Melton and Troy Daniels.

Crawford gives head coach Igor Kokoskov another ball-handler he trusts and a veteran presence on the floor. While the 38-year-old has missed games here and there as one would expect, he’s been looked at as the de facto backup point guard.

Daniels has bounced in and out of the rotation but has played well with every opportunity he gets. With the way the team is rolling now, there’s no reason for him to sit.

Then there’s Melton, who was relatively solid as a starter before Johnson was acquired given he’s not a natural point guard and a rookie second-round pick. He’s already the team’s best defensive guard and has kept improving as a decision-maker with the ball.

But in Monday’s win, it was Crawford and Daniels who got the minutes. Melton sat, along with fellow rookie Elie Okobo, who appears all but out of a chance at real playing time the rest of the season if this situation holds.

Kokoskov discussed the dynamic Wednesday at point guard.

“Based on a lot of things,” he said of the decisions. “Matchups, like Jamal is … back-to-back — I don’t think we’re gonna play him.

“It’s an open competition and it’s based on the matchup, it’s based on the gameplan and gives us some flexibility when it comes to who is our backup point.”

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