NEW YORK -- Knicks star point guard Jalen Brunson returned Sunday after nearly a month-long injury absence, logging 15 points and six assists to help New York to a 112-98 victory over a desperate Phoenix Suns club.

It wasn't Brunson's prettiest showing. He finished just 3-for-9 from the field, with some uncharacteristic missed jumpers. Still, the league leader in clutch points per minute hit a massive 3-pointer with just under two minutes left to extend the Knicks' lead to 10 and essentially seal the win.

"Could be better, could be worse. Definitely a lot of room for improvement on my end," Brunson said, adding that he had never missed this many games because of an injury.

Brunson played 34 minutes in his return, with his teammates doing their fair share of the lifting. Other than wing Mikal Bridges bringing the ball up the floor to initiate the offense a handful of times to ease Brunson's workload, wing OG Anunoby was fantastic, scoring 32 points -- including 19 during a third period in which he shot 7 of 7 from the floor -- to continue his recent hot streak.

Anunoby, playing more aggressively, has averaged nearly 24 points since Brunson sprained his right ankle in Los Angeles last month. Anunoby was averaging 16.5 points before Brunson's injury.

"I don't want to say [my injury] was a silver lining, but whenever someone goes out, it's a collective team effort, and everyone steps up," Brunson said. "It gives everyone a chance to come together and get better."

By getting their leading scorer back and having backup guards Miles McBride and Cameron Payne back in the rotation this weekend, the Knicks were as close to full strength Sunday as they have been all season. And the timing couldn't be better, with New York hoping to show it can compete with the NBA's best in the final week of the regular season.

The Knicks -- 0-8 against Oklahoma City (64-14), Cleveland (62-16) and Boston (58-20) -- host the Celtics on Tuesday and Cavs on Friday. New York (50-28) has a road game Thursday against the Pistons, whom the club could face in the first round.

But getting Brunson back was most important.

He appeared to grow more comfortable drawing fouls -- including an and-1 against Royce O'Neale in the third quarter -- and taking contact as the game continued.

"Usually what happens when a player comes back is he needs to get a feel, and usually there's a play or two where he'll be tested a little bit. And then once he realizes he's good, he takes off," Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said of Brunson. "I thought in the second half, there was a different gear to him."

With the victory, the Knicks -- who notched back-to-back 50-win seasons for the first time since 1993-94 and 1994-95 -- inched closer to officially locking up the East's No. 3 seed. (With one more win, or one more Pacers loss, they'll secure it.)

The Knicks also pushed the lowly Suns (35-43), who have the league's highest payroll, one step closer to missing the postseason. With four games remaining, Phoenix is 2 games behind Dallas for 10th place and the West's final play-in spot.