Ostertag, Jazz expose struggling Knicks

The Jazz wore down the road-weary Knicks in a 95-73 win Wednesday night, extending New York's losing streak to six.

``We're trying to play with energy and you know, freshness because last game was terrible for us,'' said Andrei Kirilenko, who sparked the Jazz with another spectacular stat line.

Coming off a 102-80 loss to Boston, Utah came out sharp. Kirilenko had 10 of his 12 rebounds by midway through the second quarter and finished with his fifth double-double of the season with 10 points.

The lanky Russian also had five blocks, six assists and six steals as the Jazz improved to 11-2 at home.

``We're trying to stay with it and come back with the right attitude. I think today we just helped each other play our game -- like we played before,'' Kirilenko said. ``Sometimes a loss like that ... It gave us a good lesson. We can't be relaxed with any team in the NBA, even if it's not-so-good team.''

Greg Ostertag scored a season-high 16 points with 12 rebounds and the Jazz barely missed getting four double-doubles. Raul Lopez scored 12 points with nine rebounds and nine assists, and Matt Harpring had 22 points and nine rebounds.

DeShawn Stevenson added 14 points for the Jazz, who had two straight and three of four.

``These guys are always trying to do the right thing. Sometimes as young players they don't realize the importance of simple things,'' Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. ``They forget that, just like we all forget the simple things a lot of times. To be successful you have to have a constant reminder of those things.''

The slumping Knicks, who led in the first half, collapsed in the third quarter of their second game in two nights. The Knicks were outrebounded 49-37 and shot just 28-for-79 from the floor.

Former Utah guard Shandon Anderson led the Knicks with 16 points. Charlie Ward scored 12 and Kurt Thomas and Antonio McDyess added 10 points apiece for New York, which went 0-5 on a five-game Western road trip.

``You're used to playing back-to-backs and things like that,'' Anderson said. ``Having been out here for five games, it probably has taken a toll on some guys, but that can't be an excuse.''

The Knicks looked ready to return to New York around halftime.

The Jazz scored the last four points of the first half, getting a tip-in from Ostertag just before the buzzer, then opened the third quarter with a 12-0 run. New York went scoreless for the first 5:19 of the third quarter and had seven turnovers.

Stevenson scored four points and Kirilenko took a steal in for a two-handed dunk during the run, which finally ended when Keith Van Horn made two free throws with 6:41 left in the quarter.

The Knicks opened the fourth quarter with an 11-2 run, cutting it to 70-64 on a 3-pointer by Anderson, but Harpring scored four straight points, then saved the ball from going out of bounds and hit Bell with a pass for a layupthat started an 11-0 run.

``I just think we were turning the ball over, moving it to our sets real slow and giving them time to really adjust to what we were doing,'' Anderson said. ``When we started picking it up we started getting back into the game,then we fell right back.''

Notes:
The Knicks were playing their third straight game without leading scorer Allan Houston, who sat out with a sore right knee. ... Van Horn, a star at the University of Utah in the 1990s, was the first Knick introduced andreceived a warm ovation. ... The Jazz opened the game with a 10-2 run.