1 Total Update since January 12, 2011
over 2 years ago Update 0 comments
Salt Lake City, UT (Sports Network) – Deron Williams scored 24 points, dished out 12 assists and grabbed seven rebounds, as the Utah Jazz held off the New York Knicks, 131-125, at EnergySolutions Arena.
C.J. Miles added 24 points and five boards off the bench for the Jazz, who have won two in a row and four of six overall.
Al Jefferson chipped in with 19 points and six rebounds and Raja Bell made four three-pointers en route to 18 points. Paul Millsap and Andrei Kirilenko donated 17 and 14 points, respectively, for Utah, which had seven players in double figures.
“Well that’s a lot of points to score,” Utah head coach Jerry Sloan said. “I thought we had a half court game. I thought we had a lot of fun, our guys played well, we passed the ball well, we really did a nice job of giving the ball up. We had a tough time trying to stop them, and I think it kind of went both ways.”
Shawne Williams finished with 25 points off the bench for the Knicks, who finished a four-game road trip with a 2-2 mark.
Raymond Felton and Bill Walker each chipped in with 23 points. Felton also dished out 11 assists and pulled down seven boards. Amare Stoudemire ended with 22 points and five assists in defeat.
New York closed out the first quarter on a 14-4 run to take a 32-31 edge.
With the score tied at 36-36 early in the second stanza, the Jazz put together a 15-4 flurry. Miles, Earl Watson and Mehmet Okur each tallied five points during the burst, which Watson capped with a free throw for a 51-40 lead with 6 1/2 minutes remaining.
Utah took a 65-57 margin into the locker room.
Holding a six-point edge early in the third, the Jazz went on a 10-0 run to create some distance. Millsap bookended the burst with a layup and jumper to make it an 80-64 contest with under 7 1/2 minutes to go.
The Knicks put together an 18-6 run moments later to make a game of it. Williams tallied 13 points during the stretch, which Felton capped with two free throws to make it 92-90.
Williams finished the third with four free throws to give the Jazz a 100-94 margin.
Utah started the fourth on an 11-3 surge to put the game away. Miles had six points during the run, including a layup with under nine minutes to play to make it 111-97.
“We fought hard. Everybody played extremely hard,” Felton said. “I can’t ask for nothing else from my teammates. Everybody came ready to play. It’s a good team they hit shots, they hit a lot of shots. We got down but we fought back. I’m satisfied with the way we played but not satisfied with the overall outcome. But other than that I thought we played hard.”
Utah has won five in a row in Salt Lake City over the Knicks…New York was without forward Anthony Randolph (flu-like symptoms)…The Jazz made 58.4 percent of their shots, while New York shot 50.6 percent from the floor…Utah’s 131 points was a season-high…Wilson Chandler tallied 14 points and five rebounds for the Knicks…Okur had 10 points.
over 2 years ago Update 0 comments
The New York Knicks reach the end of the road tonight, finishing a four-game West Coast road trip in Utah against the 25-13 Jazz (9 p.m. ET). The Knicks (22-15) have beaten Phoenix and Portland thus far on the trip, but were blown out by the Los Angeles Lakers.
Utah is tied with Oklahoma City atop the Western Conference's Northwest Division. The Jazz are led by the triumvirate of Deron Williams, Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson. Williams averages 21.8 points and 9.3 assists per game, Millsap gets 17.8 points and 8.1 rebounds and Jefferson checks in with 16.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.
The Knicks lead the league in scoring with an average of 107.35 points per game. Even after holding the Trail Blazers to just 867 points Tuesday night, the Knicks are surrending 105.76 points per game, 27th in the league.
Raymond Felton had 17 points and 14 assists for the Knicks Tuesday against Portland, but also sprained an ankle. His teammates apparently don't think that will keep the Knicks' point guard off the floor tonight.