Utah Jazz Win 7 in a Row, Beat New York Knicks, 128-104

The Utah Jazz didn’t have any particular trouble against the New York Knicks tonight in Salt Lake City. The hosts confidently defeated the team from the Big Apple posting its 12th win in the previous 13 matches. The final result was 128-104 for Quin Snyder’s crew, with the guys off the bench finishing the game.

“It was great,” said Bojan Bogdanovic about the fact that he had some time to rest in the end. “Especially for Donovan (Mitchell) who was kinds sick for the last two-three days.”

The first big burst for the hosts happened midway through the opening period, when they made an 11-0 series and got away to a double-digit lead, 30-19. However, the Knicks would come back. The visitors didn’t get the advantage or at least tie, but they were close.

Such a situation stayed until the middle of the second, once Utah makes another run, 18-4. It was practically the stretch in which they solved the event and created a lead that lasted up until the very end. The result at the break was 72-53.

“In the second quarter we started playing our defense, our game, and it was a kinda easy after,” said Bojan Bogdanovic.” Playing good defense gives us confidence.”

The hosts were routine in the second half, maintaining the distance, and also not spending too much energy. Head coach Snyder gave a chance to all the players equally, and we had a situation in which four players off the bench ended the night with a double-digit number of points. Emmanuel Mudiay scored 20, tying with Bojan Bogdanovic for the game-high. The former Knicks’ guard was shooting 8 for 12 from the field in 25 minutes.

Rudy Gobert posted a double-double with 16 points and rebounds each, while Donovan Mitchell played a relaxed match with the same number of points. Tonu Bradley scored 12, and Joe Ingles 11.

The guests played without Julius Randle, who has personal issues and will probably skip a few more games. It is a massive blow for the franchise from the Big Apple, because Randle is their No.1 player, and the team began playing much better in recent times with his leading the crew.

Frank Ntilikina had a team-high 16 point off the bench, Elfrid Payton scored 13, the same as Bobby Portis who added 13 boards also. The latter one was fined $25,000 before this game for taking a swing at Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the loss against the Lakers. He would also have a similar foul in this one, only on Bojan Bogdanovic. Knicks were inferior in the air, having 41 rebounds compared to 50 the hosts posted.

Bobby Portis gets a flagrant 1 for his foul on Bojan Bogdanovic. He got a flagrant 2 and an ejection last night in LA for his hit on KCP. Here's the MSG replay which gives a clearer visual of the foul pic.twitter.com/vlAi03PTRM

— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) January 9, 2020

It was the fourth straight loss for New York, who has 10 wins and 28 defeats this season. They finished the tour through the West with defeats against the Suns, Clippers, Lakers, and now the Jazz. Mike Miller’s guys play four of the upcoming five events at home, and the first one is against the New Orleans Pelicans this Friday.

On the other side, Utah (25-12) is red-hot. It is their seventh win in a row, with the only loss in the previous 13 events against the Miami Heat on the road. The team is looking perfect, and it seems that confidence is at its peak. The Jazz plays one more game at home, against the Charlotte Hornets before hitting the road for a three-match journey. The contest against the Hornets is scheduled for this Friday.