Dec. 26, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA: New York Knicks guard J.R. Smith (8) shoots winning shot at the buzzer over Phoenix Suns forward P.J. Tucker (17) in the fourth quarter at the US Airways Center. The Knicks defeated the Suns 99-97. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

It was two prayer jumpers that were jacked up by J.R Smith which not only ultimately gave New York the victory but spoiled what was a career night for Jared Dudley. Dudley scored a career high 36 points on 11 of 17 shooting.

“It was premeditated,” Smith said. “I was walking around the court going, ‘You are going to make it, you are going to make it.’ I was trying to get my form ready before I even thought about taking it. I was trying to go through my mechanics in my head, get my shoulders square to the basket and just let it fly.”

Goran Dragic of the Suns went down during the closing moments in the first half after he was undercut by Knicks hero J.R Smith on a fast break lay-up. Dragic left the game with what was describe as hip, wrist and back contusions. Smith was given a flagrant one foul(Flagrant two ejects him from the game). Dragic did not return to the contest as Sebastian Telfair played in place of Dragic for the remainder of the game.

“J.R., he’s not that kind of player,” Gentry said. “He plays hard and he competes like crazy. It was an accident. It was one of those things that happens.”

The game was competitive from tip-off with the score at 29-27 in favor of New York after one but after a Jermaine O’Neal lay-up with 4:46 left in the 2nd quarter which set the score at 43-41 in favor of New York, the Knicks went on a 11-3 run to close out the half, and held a 54-44 lead going into halftime. New York was led in the 2nd quarter by Chris Copeland who scored 10 points in the quarter, including 8 straight.

Dec. 26, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA: Phoenix Suns forward Jared Dudley (3) celebrates a first quarter three pointer against the New York Knicks at the US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Suns midway through the 3rd quarter suddenly found themselves trailing 54-68 after a J.R Smith jumper with 6:13 left in the quarter. The Suns responded strongly with a 18-4 run capped off by a Jared Dudley 3-pointer with 2:10 to go in the 3rd quarter and the game was deadlocked at 72 apiece; the game was tied at 76-76 heading into the final period of play.

During the 4th quarter it was nothing short of a heavy weight boxing fight as both teams went back and fourth but neither team was able to bridge themselves from the other. However after a Copeland jumper for New York with 3:33 left in the game, New York had the advantage 95-90.

The Suns would respond with a 7-0 run with began with a Sebastian Telfair 3-pointer, carried on by a Shannon Brown 20 footer, capped off by a pair of Jared Dudley free throws and all the sudden it seemed like this was the Suns game to lose as they led 97-95 with 34 seconds left in the game.

But miraculously, J.R Smith underwent a transformation in which he became Michael Jordan for the final 10 seconds of the game as he drained a clutch fadeaway 18-footer with 10 seconds left to go. The Suns got the ball back but ironically enough it was the New York native Sebastian Telfair who committed a turnover after stepping out of bounds with 1 second left in the game which ultimately set-up the Smith game winner as time expired.

“I don’t know whatever words you want to use but he loves that moment,” Knicks guard Jason Kidd said. “I’m trying to figure out if that last shot was tougher than the one before that he took.”

This is the Suns 3rd straight loss and this loss hurts more than a typical loss because the Suns lost Goran Dragic, and to lose the game the way they did it’s safe to say a few guys will have some trouble sleeping tonight. Dragic’s status is listed right as day-to-day, however the fact that he didn’t return to the game is a bit troubling.

The Suns now will be preparing for a 3-game road trip which begins on Friday against the Indiana Pacers, then on Saturday against the Minnesota Timberwolves and will end in on Monday against the Thunder in Oklahoma City.

The big problem with the machine is of course, that it makes trades and NOT Free Agent signings. Fortunately, the Suns have a lot of salary to dump in Vince Carter in Aaron Brooks, so, we can easily make a play for most of the Free Agents without feeling the actual consequences.

So, here we go, a few proposals:

NENE

If you’ve watched Sun-n-Gun Live or read a few of my articles, you’ll know, I’m a huge Nene-to-the-Suns supporter. Nene is the gem of this Free Agency and the Suns can definitely afford him. Will he want to play for a mediocre team all over again, though? It’s hard to tell.

Either way, with the current roster, Nene would definitely improve it. What does Hollinger say? See for yourself.

A 4 win addition (6 wins if Aaron Brooks stays, by the way, But fortunately that won’t happen) would be absolutely crucial, considering 6 wins was the line between the playoffs and the lottery last season. Not bad, not bad at all, I dare say.

DAVID WEST

The second big free agent big guy who could improve the Suns, if he can stay healthy. While he’s probably a better fit based purely on being a “natural” Power Forward, he’s coming off an injury and his effectiveness might be questioned. This time, due to the cap system, the trade had to be simulated into a 3-team trade with the Nuggets being essentially a cap dump. Don’t worry about it, though, this will not change the result which is essentially identical to the Nene trade (Hollinger’s formulas are based on PER, and David West had an identical PER to Nene)

Ok, so when it comes to a big man, we have a big dilemma here. Who do we choose? Their PER is identical, West runs the pick and pop better, Nene runs the pick and roll better, both have past injury issues, and both can help in different ways. I’m a fan of Nene’s game, but I decided that the tiebreaker shouldn’t be my sympathies but one simple thing: Defensive stats.

You see, I’m a big fan of MySynergySports.Com. I think it’s fun to watch defensive stats in various contexts, instead of just watching the block numbers and saying “this guy is better.” So I went there and grabbed a comparison.

And… It looks like David West wins by a sliver. His PPP are pretty damn good, and he’d certainly help defensively. The Opponent PER stats from 82games.com tell a similar story. In the end, West’s scoring prowess combined with better defence mike make him the better choice, even if he’s not as efficient in his scoring as Nene. The fact of the matter is that West might just fit a bit more with his mid-range jumper than Nene with his at-the-rim capabilities. He might also be more affordable, so… Why the hell not?

ARRON AFFLALO

Now, the Suns don’t just need a big guy, they also need a wingman, the dream would certainly be Arron Afflalo, who is probably the most underrated player in the league. The problem? The Suns will have to be very aggressive in throwing a QO that the Nuggets wouldn’t match. But lets just say the fax in the Nuggets office breaks for that 3 day offer-accepting period that is included in the new CBA.

Now this is where Hollinger formula fails. Afflalo is miles above Vince Carter. Need proof?  Stats won’t bring it to you, but he’s a hustling player. Much like Jared Dudley, it’s a quality that brings intangibles. And while his defensive stats are certainly underwhelming (pretty much identical to Vince) he actually tries on defence.

Speaking of the Denver Nuggets, they have to a lot more interesting guys stuck in China right now — Wilson Chandler and J.R. Smith are both stuck there, and they might come back (hopefully without Aaron Brooks). Let’s see those two guys.

J.R. SMITH

Dammit, once again I have failed. Or, should I say, Hollinger failed to realize that this is a Energy player for two guys who just don’t care. Given that Chandler’s PER is smaller, he’ll also lose some wins. This however, does not include how they’d work in the Phoenix system, so… Who the hell knows?

Since Aaron Brooks departed, the Suns also need a backup point guard. A systematic fit would be J.J. Barea, but substituting Pippin for Merry isn’t quite what the Suns should be doing. Another (initialed) name to consider is T.J. Ford. In the end though, it might be better to stay pat with Zabian Dowdell manning the backup point and keep an eye out for amnesty plunder, which will be the topic of our next article.