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Knicks drop first game against opponent with losing record in ugly loss to Jazz
Julius Randle drew two on the drive, looked to the baseline then rifled a no-look pass to Josh Hart, who was wide-open on the left wing for an opportunity to tie with just seconds left in the Knicks’ loss to the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.
Hart missed — but Immanuel Quickley secured an offensive rebound and kicked the ball out to Jalen Brunson, who, like Hart, had a good look at the rim with the game on the line.
No dice.
Even Donte DiVincenzo, on a hot shooting night, had a chance to extend the game with a clean look at a three that airballed with less than 15 seconds left on the clock.
He got another chance, intercepting the ensuing Jazz inbounds pass and forcing a foul on the play.
The Jazz were in the bonus, and DiVincenzo needed to make both free throws to make it a one-possession game in crunch time against an inexperienced Jazz team.
He made the first, missed the second, then shouted in frustration.
Brunson was equally as disappointed after his last-second heave came up off target. In typical Knicks fashion, New York led by 10 then trailed as many as 17 before fighting back only to come up short, 117-113, in their first stop in a five-game road trip on Wednesday.
The Knicks took their first loss of the season to a team with a losing record, and Randle carried the load with 32 points, 12 rebounds and six assists on the night. Randle shot 14-of-23 from the field and Quickley shot six-of-eight for 15 points off the bench.
The rest of the Knicks combined shot 20-of-63, or less than 32 percent from the field on the night. Brunson shot 0-of-6 from three and 11-of-16 from the free throw line, and RJ Barrett missed 13 of his 16 shot attempts, including all seven of his attempts from downtown.
Randle scored 14 points in the first quarter, zero in the second, 16 in the third quarter and just two in the final period. The staggering in his scoring is expected given he plays heavy minutes in the opening periods of each half.
The Knicks, however, lost the second quarter, 30-19, and allowed a Jazz team that ranks bottom-eight in scoring to score close to 120 points without several key players.
Jazz All-Star Lauri Markkanen lit it up on a minutes restriction, scoring 23 points in 25 minutes, and without lightning rod scorer Jordan Clarkson, the Knicks allowed Collin Sexton to shoot 10-of-18 from the field for 26 points.
Jazz rookie scorer Keyonte George also exited the game four minutes in with a foot injury, and John Collins also missed Wednesday’s game with an illness.
The Knicks were without Mitchell Robinson (ankle), and his absence was apparent. New York lost the rebound margin, 53-46, and gave up 15 offensive rebounds.
They had the advantage on paper, however, with star power the Jazz couldn’t reproduce.
Randle’s dominant night fell on a loss. The Knicks (13-10) have now lost three of their last four games, and their next four games come against teams with winning records. They play in Phoenix against Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and the Suns on Friday; fly to Los Angeles for a date with LeBron James and Anthony Davis’ Lakers on Saturday; then play the Clippers meshing super team of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, James Harden and Russell Westbrook on Monday before returning to New York to play the Nets at Barclays Center next week.
Then, the Knicks host the Bucks in back-to-back games at Madison Square Garden before another three-game trip against playoff teams: at Oklahoma City against the Thunder, then at Orlando and Indiana in a back-to-back against the Magic and Pacers.
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