PHOENIX — Jalen Brunson couldn’t save the reeling Knicks.
In fact, Captain Clutch faltered when it mattered most.
Trying to drag his struggling squad to a road win, Brunson shot just 1-for-6 in the fourth quarter with two turnovers, both in the final 95 seconds of a 112-107 defeat to the Suns on Friday.
The most consequential occurred with 13.5 seconds left, when Brunson threw an errant pass that was deflected by Grayson Allen.
With the ball headed out of bounds, Mikal Bridges failed to box out Allen, who reached around and threw the ball off Bridges as they bounded toward the scorer’s table.
It was ruled out on the Knicks, giving the Suns the ball with a 106-103 advantage.
From there, Phoenix hit its free throws and sent the Knicks to their hotel with another loss.
“I just feel like I need to execute and be better towards the end of the night,” said Brunson, who acknowledged his final turnover was a “careless pass.”
“That’s when I’m at my best. That’s what I pride myself on. … I just need to be better down the stretch and be more sound and be more fundamental.”
With team owner James Dolan flying to Phoenix and sitting baseline, the Knicks devolved into a sloppy mess with 18 turnovers and another dud from Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored just 15 points in 33 minutes.
Dolan’s squad (24-14) lost for the fifth time in its last six games, a stretch defined by poor play on both sides of the ball.
The owner’s presence feels more consequential in the wake of his WFAN interview Monday, when Dolan set the bar at Finals or failure. He rarely attends road games and it’s unclear why Dolan showed up in Phoenix, but it’s worth noting that his entertainment venue — The Sphere — is close by in Las Vegas.
“We want to get to the Finals. And we should win the Finals,” Dolan said this week. “This is sports and anything can happen. But getting to the Finals, we absolutely got to do.”
They haven’t looked the part lately.
And certainly not in Phoenix.
Leading by two with 4:11 remaining, the Knicks went about four minutes with just two points. Overall, they shot 32 percent with six turnovers in the fourth quarter.
OG Anunoby ensured defeat by missing two of three free throws with 2.2 seconds left.
“When you have 17 turnovers for 22 points off turnovers, compared to their 10 turnovers for 11 points off turnovers, on the road, it’s going to be tough to overcome,” coach Mike Brown said.
The Suns (23-15) were supposed to dissolve into a rebuild after trading Kevin Durant, but they’ve been much better than anticipated behind inspired play from newcomer Dillon Brooks and restored excellence from Devin Booker.
Brooks, the fiery guard acquired from Houston for Durant, has been a revelation offensively this season and dropped 20 of his 27 points Friday in the first half.
Booker added 31 points and eight assists.
“They’ve been playing good basketball,” Brown said. “They have some veteran guys that have been through the fire, you have a guy in Dillon Brooks who has shown that he can obviously defend and bring an edge to this basketball team and get it done on the offensive end of the floor.
“Book is an All-Star, obviously. They get out and run, crash the glass. They do a pretty good job defensively overall, trying to put pressure on you. They’ll pick up full court. There are a lot of things we’re going to have to make sure we maintain or follow our principles on tonight. They can attack in a lot of different ways.”
The Knicks, meanwhile, were regrouping.
Brown held a practice Tuesday in their facility — their first practice at home in weeks — and tweaked his schemes. He has another practice scheduled in Phoenix on Saturday to work on those things.
The Knicks need it.
