The Knicks could have used Julius Randle in the second half of Friday night's heartbreaking loss, as they were trying stop yet another second-half, double-digit lead slip away.
But Randle wasn't on the court, or the bench, as he had been ejected for shoving Cam Thompson late in the third quarter, with New York up by 10.
Johnson went on to score 21 points in the fourth and hit six 3-pointers, the last one a bank job from way outside at the buzzer to give the shorthanded Suns a 115-114 win, handing the Knicks their seventh straight loss.
At the time of his ejection, Randle was leading all scorers with 28 points, had dropped 20 of them in and impressive first half, and was shooting 50 percent from the field.
"It's an emotional game, but you can't cross over that line," head coach Tom Thibodeau said. "You gotta know where to stop. None of us are perfect. We're gonna make mistakes. But we gotta be disciplined."
Randle and Johnson came together and jawed at each other before the officials stepped in to break things up. But Randle went back in and shoved Johnson, resulting in the ejection after both had been assessed a technical foul. It turned out to be a backbreaker for the Knicks, who suffered an even worse one when Johnson's desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer banked home.
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