NEW YORK — Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko each
scored 23 points, and the Utah Jazz won in New York for the first time in more
than five years by beating the Knicks 95-93 on Monday night.
Mehmet Okur had the go-ahead basket with 1:16 to play and
finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Jazz, who opened a difficult
four-game road trip by winning at Madison Square Garden for the first time since
Feb. 20, 2004.
Deron Williams was limited to five points but had 16
assists. Utah, which earned its first road victory of the season, visits Boston
next and wraps up the trip Saturday night at Cleveland.
Rookie Toney Douglas scored a season-high 21 points for
the Knicks, who nearly dug their way out of another huge deficit with a big
fourth-quarter rally. But he missed just before the buzzer, sending New York
(1-7) to its fourth straight loss.
Wilson Chandler scored 17 points, and Larry Hughes and
David Lee each had 12 for the Knicks.
The Jazz led by 21 points early in the second half but
the Knicks rallied with an effective zone defense, taking advantage of Utah's
perimeter shooting woes while top outside threat Kyle Korver (left knee surgery)
remains sidelined.
Utah was still ahead by 11 with under 8 minutes to play
before Al Harrington and Danilo Gallinari drilled consecutive 3-pointers to
start a 10-0 run that cut it to 84-83 on Harrington's dunk with 6:21 remaining.
Consecutive layups by Douglas tied it at 93 with 1:36
left and the Knicks forced another miss, but the rebound went right to Okur for
a tip-in and the lead for good.
The Knicks missed with three more chances to tie, the
final one Douglas' tough attempt in the closing seconds.
Utah benefits from every New York loss, so Monday was a
win-win proposition.
The Jazz own New York's first-round pick in 2010, which
seems destined to be a high lottery selection with the Knicks' woeful start. The
pick was originally sent to Phoenix in the Stephon Marbury deal in 2004 and
later moved to Utah by the Suns in a trade for Tom Gugliotta.
New York was headed toward another big first-quarter
deficit when Utah raced to a 22-10 lead, but the Knicks locked down defensively,
holding the Jazz to three points the final 5 minutes and cutting it to 25-18.
Utah opened another double-digit lead about 3 1/2
minutes into the second, then finished the half with an 11-3 burst to make it
48-31. The Knicks missed all 10 3-point attempts in their lowest-scoring half of
the season, hearing some loud boos in the final minutes.
Kirilenko hit one of his five 3-pointers to push it to
52-31 1:10 into the second half and the Jazz led by double digits for nearly the
entire third quarter, bringing a 78-64 advantage into the final 12 minutes.
Notes
Knicks C Eddy Curry is expected to return to
practice Tuesday for the first time since the opening day of training camp.
Curry injured his calf that night and the Knicks decided he wouldn't practice
again until he had improved his conditioning enough to avoid injuries. Coach
Mike D'Antoni said Curry has been working out on a "pace that's murderous." …
Injured guard Nate Robinson (sprained right ankle) could return late this week.
… Utah backup guard Ronnie Price left with a sprained toe.