Game Thread: New York Knicks @ Utah Jazz 10:30 1/19/2018 [Game #46]

rady

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(20-25) -- (18-26)

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Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City, UTMSG10:30 PM EST


Probable starters:


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Injury Report

New York KnicksUtah Jazz
No injuries to reportNo injuries to report
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Game Preview

SALT LAKE CITY -- Staying on the fringes of the playoff picture is becoming harder for both the New York Knicks and the Utah Jazz.

When the two teams clash in Salt Lake City on Friday night, both will be searching to build some critical momentum to reverse recent struggles. New York has dropped 11 of its last 14 games. Utah has lost 15 of its last 20 contests.

Frustrations came to a head for the Knicks (20-25) in a 105-99 loss to Memphis on Wednesday. The Grizzlies led by as many 18 points in the third quarter before New York rallied within a basket in the final minute.

Memphis held on after Courtney Lee was whistled for a technical foul and the Grizzlies won a critical jump ball in the closing seconds. This latest loss came against a Memphis team that had key starters Marc Gasol and Mike Conley both sidelined because of injury and illness.

"Of course, we're all frustrated," Knicks center Kristaps Porzingis told the New York Daily News after the game. "We all want to win. We need to understand the things we need to do throughout the game to be able to be in position to win late in the game."

Porous defense has been a major obstacle for New York in turning things around. The Knicks have held just two opponents under 100 points over their last 14 games. They rank 20th among NBA teams with a 108.2 defensive rating in January.

Opponents are especially dominating New York in turning offensive rebounds into baskets. The Knicks have given up 15.0 second-chance points per game in January, which ranks 28th in the league.

Utah (18-26) has experienced its own share of defensive struggles without center Rudy Gobert in the lineup. The Jazz rank just behind the Knicks with a 108.5 defensive rating in January. Utah has led the NBA this month with 10.1 steals per game. But the Jazz have struggled to get rebounds, grabbing just 32.6 per contest and have allowed opponents to get too many extra possessions and comfortable looks.

"The biggest thing with us is we've always had a next man up thing," guard Donovan Mitchell said after Monday's 109-94 loss to Indiana. "It's obviously tough with all the injuries we have, but we just got to bring the energy a little bit more."

Utah took some steps in the right direction -- on offense -- in Wednesday's 120-105 win over Sacramento. Mitchell paced the Jazz with 34 points on 14-of-19 shooting. His field goal percentage (.737) was the highest for a rookie guard in a 30-point game in nearly eight years.

Mitchell got help from Rodney Hood in sparking Utah. Hood totaled 25 points and eight rebounds after being booed by some fans during the loss to the Pacers after repeatedly missing 3-pointers in the first half.

Throughout Utah's struggles, Jazz coach Quin Snyder has pointed to execution as the critical factor between success and failure.

"I don't think effort is anything with our group," Snyder said. "I know them well enough to know they're competing. Part of it is it's not enough to just compete. You have to play well, and it's how you're competing."

The Knicks earned a 106-101 victory over the Jazz on Nov. 15. Rodney Hood scored 30 points to lead Utah, but New York pulled away behind 26 points from Tim Hardaway, Jr. after limiting the Jazz to 19 fourth-quarter points.

(CBSSports / STATS)
 

mafra

Legend
The report of Walker on the block comes as the Knicks are bracing for the Ntilikina-Donovan Mitchell Jr. showdown. Mitchell, also a local product out of Westchester, was bypassed in June?s draft by the Knicks, who heavily considered him. A stout defender, Mitchell is now playing better than any rookie out of the 2017 class ? with five 30-point games and a knack for defense.

Hornacek raved about Mitchell at the morning shootaround Friday in Utah, admitting he called his buddy, Jazz executive Dennis Lindsay, to congratulate him on getting Mitchell at 13, telling him ?that?s a great pick.??

Hornacek liked Mitchell?s Knicks? workout but defended Ntilikina for being only 19 and more used to European style than the NBA game. Ntilikina is averaging 5.4 points per game and shooting just 35 percent.

?There?s guys when you look at it are more ready early,?? Hornacek said. ?The projection at 19 years old ? what?s that going to be five years from now. Frank has great potential. He?s got length. He?s got the size. The NBA game will be new to him. Guys like Dennis Smith Jr. and Donovan Mitchell have kind of played the NBA style through growing up. Frank has done a great job, especially with his defense. Donovan?s doing a great job for Utah. They?re both going to do great things in this league.??

Hornacek said Ntilkina?s defense will only get better when he gets stronger and that Mitchell already has an NBA body.

?They?re different in ways,?? Hornacek said. ?[Mitchell] has got strength to be in this league right now. Frank?s still going to work on that and get stronger as the years go on. We can already see a little difference from the beginning of the year with his strength. His body probably is more ready for the NBA but both will be able to be great players for their teams.??

?He?s had a great rookie year,?? Hornacek added of Mitchell. ?We had him in New York quite a bit working out. We knew he was a great player. He showed with toughness and high-end confidence, he could do pretty well.?

(NY Post)
 

tiger0330

Legend
The report of Walker on the block comes as the Knicks are bracing for the Ntilikina-Donovan Mitchell Jr. showdown. Mitchell, also a local product out of Westchester, was bypassed in June’s draft by the Knicks, who heavily considered him. A stout defender, Mitchell is now playing better than any rookie out of the 2017 class – with five 30-point games and a knack for defense.

Hornacek raved about Mitchell at the morning shootaround Friday in Utah, admitting he called his buddy, Jazz executive Dennis Lindsay, to congratulate him on getting Mitchell at 13, telling him “that’s a great pick.’’

Hornacek liked Mitchell’s Knicks’ workout but defended Ntilikina for being only 19 and more used to European style than the NBA game. Ntilikina is averaging 5.4 points per game and shooting just 35 percent.

“There’s guys when you look at it are more ready early,’’ Hornacek said. “The projection at 19 years old — what’s that going to be five years from now. Frank has great potential. He’s got length. He’s got the size. The NBA game will be new to him. Guys like Dennis Smith Jr. and Donovan Mitchell have kind of played the NBA style through growing up. Frank has done a great job, especially with his defense. Donovan’s doing a great job for Utah. They’re both going to do great things in this league.’’

Hornacek said Ntilkina’s defense will only get better when he gets stronger and that Mitchell already has an NBA body.

“They’re different in ways,’’ Hornacek said. “[Mitchell] has got strength to be in this league right now. Frank’s still going to work on that and get stronger as the years go on. We can already see a little difference from the beginning of the year with his strength. His body probably is more ready for the NBA but both will be able to be great players for their teams.’’

“He’s had a great rookie year,’’ Hornacek added of Mitchell. “We had him in New York quite a bit working out. We knew he was a great player. He showed with toughness and high-end confidence, he could do pretty well.

(NY Post)
This pisses me off that he worked out for the Knicks not just once it seems but quite a bit. How many times did we work out Nits? We had a good look at him and we passed, unlike DSJ who refused a workout.
 

mafra

Legend
This pisses me off that he worked out for the Knicks not just once it seems but quite a bit. How many times did we work out Nits? We had a good look at him and we passed, unlike DSJ who refused a workout.

Word is most in franchise loved DM. He?s a local kid, son of a Mets exec, his college coach hyped him up... but Phil felt FN was better fit for triangle... shame on owner for allowing Phil to the make pick when he knew he would fire him.

Basically, the team gambled that Frenchie would be the better Pro in 3-4 years. Perfect for KP right? Lol
 

Kiyaman

Legend
Thanks for the nice Friday Game-Thread Rady .... Frank Nitty Defense vs Top rookie scorer Mitchell ???
The Utah Jazz performance this season has been like they took the back seat in the western conference.
The Knicks on the other hand has been performing like they have a underachieving head coach.
I'm looking for Trey Burke to get some decent minutes in a lineup with Ntilkina tonight.
It's midseason and the Knicks has turned into LOSERS on the road .. every road game that Noah is DNP i have to boo boo coach Hornacek for TANKING !!!
 

mafra

Legend
ThJr starting over LT



Ricky Rubio, Donovan Mitchell, Rodney Hood, Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert will start against the Knicks on Friday.

The Jazz get wild here with a couple new starters in Hood and Gobert returning. Hood has been shooting the ball really well...
 

Kiyaman

Legend
Word is most in franchise loved DM. He?s a local kid, son of a Mets exec, his college coach hyped him up... but Phil felt FN was better fit for triangle... shame on owner for allowing Phil to the make pick when he knew he would fire him.

Basically, the team gambled that Frenchie would be the better Pro in 3-4 years. Perfect for KP right? Lol

Adding another high scorer ( DSJ or Mitchell) on the Knicks roster on draft night to go with Melo n KP 39% fg shooting would not have been a wise move for the Knicks. Especially if the first priority in the off-season were to get ISO-Melo to wave the NTC plus find a team to trade Melo's outrageous contract too.
Selecting a defensive-minded PG Ntilkina in the draft change the outlook of the Knicks.
It was like coach Red Holzman selecting Walt Frazier defensive tenacity out of the draft.
 
Well, didn?t take long for the refs to blow an obvious call. Mitchell blocks Lee?s layup after it hits the glass and refs decide not to call the goaltend. Lee looks ready to go atomic on the refs tonight after saying that the ref in the Memphis game lied about what happened leading to his tech.
 
Great start for THJ. Jack has been so bad he might force our front office to start being more interested in Kemba Walker.
 
Mitchell struggling in the 1st quarter. If he doesn?t get going, we have a much better shot to win tonight.
 
Not to hate on Hornacek, but he averaged 14 points and 4 assists per game and the Jazz retired his number? ...that is generous.
 
We started strong but have since completely collapsed to close the 1st quarter and Jazz in the midsts of an 10 - 0 run.
 

Kiyaman

Legend
We started strong but have since completely collapsed to close the 1st quarter and Jazz in the midsts of an 10 - 0 run.

We was doing good till Hornacek started substituting one player at a time instead of adding 2 co-existing bench players into the lineup as 6th man n 7th manin the first qtr. (Frank n Quinn) then a minute later add 3 more bench players to the lineup to have a 2nd unit lineup .... we look bad in the 2nd quarter because of coach Horn's 12 Man substitution in one quarter.
49 - 55 Jazz Halftime .. We need a road WIN !!!
 

tiger0330

Legend
Ntilikina matching Mitchell with an equally ugly 1st quarter. Here comes Trey Burke.
If you're not winning you should make lineup changes, taking out a guy like Nits who isn't NBA ready for a guy with 3 yrs NBA experience is a place to start. 55-49 we're still in it, Utah historically has been a tough place to play so a win here would be huge.
 

Broadway

All Star
We started strong but have since completely collapsed to close the 1st quarter and Jazz in the midsts of an 10 - 0 run.

I posted in another thread I believe we might be trying to tank a little, based on Hornacek's comments. The subbing by him tonight has a complete chaotic disaster but supports what he said.

Ugly first half and boy do we need a POINT GUARD
 

Kiyaman

Legend
Truth be said .. Noah belong in the rotation, especially in our road games .. Hornacek had plenty of time to work on a defensive 2nd unit lineup of Noah Quinn Beasley THJ n Frank .. during THJ n Noah rehab time
 
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