Knicks at Jazz
Carmelo Anthony is exasperated and the New York Knicks star forward
would see his mood brightened with a victory. Anthony and New York look
to break a two-game losing streak when the Knicks visit the Utah Jazz on
Wednesday.
Anthony was just 12-of-35 from the field and averaged 17.5 points in the two losses as the Knicks dipped two games below .500. "Losing is frustrating," Anthony said after Monday's loss to Dallas. "I don't want this to be an ongoing situation, an ongoing feeling, where we've got to come to the locker room and explain why we're losing basketball games." Utah has dropped three of its last four games and the defense has been troublesome during a stretch in which the Jazz are allowing 110.5 per contest. The Jazz matched a franchise record with 15 3-pointers Tuesday but dropped a 114-106 decision to the Sacramento Kings.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), ROOT (Utah)
ABOUT THE KNICKS (10-12): Rookie Kristaps Porzingis continued his strong campaign with 28 points on 13-of-18 shooting during Monday's loss to the Mavericks. The 7-foot-3 forward has scored 20 or more points in five of the past 11 games and left a big impression on future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki. "He's way ahead of the curve," Nowitzki said afterward. "When I was 20, I was scared to death out there. He's almost averaging a double-double out there. He's better than I was in my 20s, so the comparison is probably unfair to him. He's a complete package."
ABOUT THE JAZZ (9-10): Utah trailed by 11 points after one quarter in the loss to Sacramento and faced an uphill task the rest of the contest. Coach Quin Snyder expressed unhappiness with defensive breakdowns in a contest in which the Kings shot 55.8 percent from the field and held a 58-30 edge in points in the paint. "We have to try to get this bad taste out of our mouths," small forward Gordon Hayward told reporters while looking forward to the second night of the back-to-back. "I don't think we'll be tired. We'll be good to go."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. PF Derrick Favors averaged 25 points and 12 rebounds as the Jazz swept last season's two meetings with the Knicks.
2. Utah SG Rodney Hood matched his career high of five 3-pointers while scoring 17 points against Sacramento after having just nine points over the previous two games.
3. New York backup SG Langston Galloway is a porous 11-of-57 from the field during the past eight games.