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 A night later in Utah, it looked like the Jazz might never let the
New York Knicks reach double digits.
Forward Gordon Hayward personally outscored the Knicks in the first
quarter and scored a game-high 24 points Wednesday as the Jazz
cruised to a 106-85 win.
"Two very different nights obviously," said Jazz coach Quin Snyder
said, whose team lost 114-106 to the Kings the previous night. "Our
tough time in the first quarter (Tuesday) was due to our lack of
focus in transition defense. No one got a chance to do anything. ...
I thought we communicated a little bit better. We're still not where
I'd like to see us, but our guys, there's a collective pride."
Hayward, who had 33 points in his only game against the Knicks last
season, outscored New York 13-11 in the first 12 minutes. The
visitors eventually passed him up, but the Jazz small forward scored
18 in the first half before sitting most of the second half.
Hayward hit 9 of 14 shots and also contributed five assists and four
rebounds in 27 minutes.
"We were rolling," Hayward said. "We kind of set the tone there in
the first quarter for the rest of the game, and they couldn't come
back."
Forward Carmelo Anthony only scored 12 points on 3-of-11 shooting as
the Knicks lost their third straight.
"The message (to players) is this is where you find out what you're
made of. It's easy to hold your head, poke your chest out and tell
everybody how good you are when it's going well," Knicks coach Derek
Fisher said. "You really find out what you're made of when things
aren't going so well."
Forward Lou Amundson and guard Sasha Vujacic both scored 10 points
and were the only other Knicks players in double figures.
This was the biggest loss of the season for New York, which dropped
to 10-13. The Knicks' previous worst margin of defeat came in a
97-78 defeat at home against Miami on Nov. 27.
New York only shot 39.7 percent and was outscored in the paint
42-28. The Jazz shot 48.8 percent from the field, including 9-for-21
from 3-point range.
"I really don't have the answer to say what is happening at the
beginning, but we have to find out quick," said Knicks guard Jose
Calderon of poor New York starts. "They played good today. They hit
two or three threes in a row at the beginning to take the lead and
we couldn't get back to that. We have to figure it out."
Center Derrick Favors had a strong outing for Utah, which bounced
back from a sluggish 114-106 loss at Sacramento on Tuesday night.
Favors finished with 20 points and eight rebounds.
Guard Trey Burke added 15 points and five assists for the Jazz, who
improved to 10-10.
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The game actually started well for the Knicks.
Rookie Kristaps Porzingis gave New York an early 2-0 lead after an
offensive rebound kept the team's first possession alive.
It was all Jazz -- and almost all Hayward -- for the rest of the
half.
Hayward put Utah up 6-2 with consecutive 3-pointers for the Jazz,
who have been hoisting up more deep shots in injured center Rudy
Gobert's absence.
And the Jazz didn't stop pouring it on until they had established a
31-point lead in the second quarter.
New York went nearly three minutes between Porzingis's first bucket
and the team's second basket at the 8:41 mark. The Knicks then went
another two scoreless minutes, falling behind 18-4 after a
three-point play by Favors.
Hayward outscored New York by himself in the first quarter, 13-11.
The Jazz as a team scored 29 in the opening period and pushed their
lead to 31 at 49-18 after yet another Hayward 3-pointer.
New York scored 24 points apiece in the second and third quarters to
pull within 23, 82-59, going into the fourth quarter.
Jazz guard Rodney Hood was ejected in the fourth quarter after
bumping Vujacic hard while the New York player was on a fast break.
Porzingis finished with just four points in 13 minutes.
"That is coach's decision. His decision," the Rookie of the Year
candidate said. "I guess he wanted me to rest for tomorrow's game
(in Sacramento). I was ready to play, but that was coach's decision.
I don't know."
NOTES: This was the first stop in a three-game road trip for the
Knicks, who play at Sacramento on Thursday and at Portland on
Saturday. "Sometimes being away from home forces you to draw
together a little bit more. We're playing in some tough buildings,
starting with (Wednesday)," Knicks coach Derek Fisher said. ...
Fisher played for the Jazz in 2006-07, averaging 10.1 points and 3.3
rebounds as Deron Williams' backup. ... Knicks forward Lou Amundson
played in one game for Utah in that same season. ... Utah's next two
games are against the Oklahoma City Thunder at home Friday and on
the road Sunday. ... The Jazz have been trying to find a defensive
answer without injured Rudy Gobert (knee) and 7-footer Jeff Withey
is a guy the team hopes will seize that opportunity. "Jeff needs to
raise his level defensively just like everyone else," Jazz coach
Quin Snyder said. "He's watched a lot of tape in the last day and a
half. He was given us some good things."
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