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Sasha Vujacic leads Knicks to blowout win over Suns

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Sasha Vujacic finished just three points shy of a career-high.Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Sasha Vujacic finished just three points shy of a career-high.

PHOENIX – Sasha Vujacic has spent most of the season maligned by fans and intermittently benched by coaches, trying to revive an NBA career that went dormant for the last five years.

His output through the first four games of March included a grand total of four minutes and zero points. He was a punching bag for the analytics and advanced stats faithful. So when Vujacic was announced as a starter Wednesday, it was a bit of a surprise move from coach Kurt Rambis – and one that was met with immediate backlash from fans on social media.

But Rambis’ decision was not as surprising as what occurred after tipoff: Vujacic, the 32-year-old former fiancé of Maria Sharapova, nailed his first seven shots, including six from beyond the arc, while dropping 23 points – the most he’s scored in over five years. Vujacic complemented Carmelo Anthony’s 23 points and Derrick Williams’ fourth-quarter dunk show, as the Knicks punished the miserable Suns, 128-97, on Wednesday, giving spectator Phil Jackson something to feel good about before the team’s four-day trip to L.A.

Vujacic, who started in place of injured Arron Afflalo (abdominal strain suffered in Tuesday’s loss to the Nuggets), didn’t even play in the fourth quarter of the blowout and finished just three points shy of a career-high.

“He’s somebody who can play harassing defense,” Rambis explained of his decision to start Vujacic. “He knows our offense, can execute it and keep our guys coming off the bench together.”

It is the first time the Knicks (27-39), who shot an amazing 67 percent on their 24 3-point attempts Wednesday, have won two of three games since Jan. 20. The Suns (17-47) lived up to their awful reputation, especially defensively. The 128 points was the most the Knicks scored all season, and their 36-point advantage in the fourth quarter was also a season-high.

Sasha VujacicMatt York/AP

Sasha Vujacic

Williams scored all 18 of his points in the fourth quarter – six on alley-oops and two on a windmill dunk.

One New York player who struggled, however, was rookie Kristaps Porzingis, who missed eight of his 10 field goal attempts and played just 22 minutes because of foul trouble.

A day earlier, the Latvian turned defensive while refuting the theory that he’s fatigued.

“It happens. Bad games happens. Two or three games later I have a great game,” Porzingis said after scoring just six points with three turnovers in 27 minutes against the Nuggets. “It’s just ups and downs, especially my rookie season. It’s all a learning experience, especially some games you don’t feel as well, some games you feel better. But I try to find that consistency where I can play at the same level. I’m not there yet.”

Such perspective wasn’t applied from the outside when Porzingis blasted out of the gate as a 20-year-old sensation. It was talk of All-Star appearances; Hall of Fame comparisons; Unicorn abilities.

Carmelo Anthony scored 23 points, but Kristaps Porzingis continued to struggle in 22 minutes.Jennifer Stewart/USA Today Sports

Carmelo Anthony scored 23 points, but Kristaps Porzingis continued to struggle in 22 minutes.

But something changed when Rambis took over for Derek Fisher, or maybe even a little earlier when the losing began to define the season.

Porzingis was still putting up good numbers for a rookie, but the pop was gone, the aggression sapped. He started the season with 18 double-doubles and hasn’t picked up one in over a month.

Attempts from Rambis to transform Porzingis into a low-post scorer haven’t panned out.

“Sometimes he gets a little too eager looking for his shot. He’s got to be more patient, allow things to come to him,” Rambis said. “I understand his frustration, he’s a very talented offensive player. And we’ve got to do a better job as a team to making sure he’s involved more. But he still can’t go off on his own looking for his own shot. He was one of the guys (Tuesday) — and he wasn’t the only one by any stretch of the imagination — who started this cycle of settling for jump shots. That really turned to tide for us.”

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