With Kevin Durant (ankle) missing his third straight game, it will be up to Devin Booker to keep the Suns competitive at Madison Square Garden. Booker has scored 39 (on 32 shots) and 37 (on 29 shots) the past two games. When Booker faced the Knicks in November, he scored 33 points on 12-of-23 shooting. Look for Booker to get at least 28 as the desperate Suns try to stop their five-game skid and stay alive for the 10th seed.

Good news for the Knicks, as there is word from MSG is that Jalen Brunson could see his first action for the Knicks in a month as he looks to return from his ankle injury for today vs. the Suns. Though another motivator on Sunday is to go against the Suns, who seem to have stopped competing in a disastrous five-game slump that has knocked them to the wrong side of the play-in cut line. These five losses have all come by double-digit margins, and Kevin Durant hasn't been around to help in the past week as he's been saddled with his own ankle injury. Did the Suns really have to move out Frank Vogel for Mike Budenholzer to endure all of this? Play Knicks

Karl-Anthony Towns has recorded at least 34 combined points and rebounds in nine of his last 13 games. It’s not a concern that Jalen Brunson (ankle) is expected to play Sunday because Towns is averaging 24.4 points and 12.8 rebounds per game for the season. This is a stellar matchup against the Suns, who struggle to slow down centers. When these two teams met in November, Towns posted 34 points and 10 rebounds. This is the second game of a back-to-back set for the Knicks, but that’s also not a concern for Towns because he has recorded at least 34 combined points and rebounds in eight of 10 such situations this season.