Hayward excels in debut as Jazz topple Knicks
NEW YORK -- In his first game of the season after missing the first six with a fractured finger on his left hand, Gordon Hayward scored a team-high 28 points as the Utah Jazz beat the New York Knicks 114-109 at Madison Square Garden.
Hayward, 26, led the Jazz with 19.7 points and 3.7 assists per game in 2015-16, but had to wait until a Sunday matinee to make his debut this season.
Rodney Hood scored 12 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, including two three-pointers, as the Jazz outscored the Knicks 36-29 in the final stanza.
George Hill added 23 points and nine assists for Utah, Rudy Gobert scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Derrick Favors scored 13 points and six rebounds. Joe Johnson added 10 points.
Utah improved to 4-3 on the season, while the Knicks dropped to 2-4.
Carmelo Anthony went for 28 points and nine rebounds and Kristaps Porzingis scored 28 points and grabbed eight boards for the Knicks one game after he poured in 27 in a victory in Chicago. But the Knicks failed to capitalize on Friday's impressive win in which Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah both played very well in their returns to the Windy City and all five Knicks starter reached double-figures.
Against Utah, Rose scored 12 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and added eight assists and four rebounds on the game.
The Knicks led by as many as 13 points in the first half, but they did not maintain control down the stretch.
New York led 80-78 after three quarters, with more than half of its points coming from Anthony (22) and Porzingis (20).
Utah opened the fourth quarter on a 12-2 run, including two three-pointers from Johnson, to go ahead 90-82.
The Knicks got to within 100-95 on a three-point play by Rose, but Hayward hit a 17-foot jumper and then a layup to extend Utah's lead to 104-95.
Anthony made two foul shots to cut the deficit to 106-101 with under a minute to go, but Hood got free for an uncontested dunk out of a 20-second timeout to extend the lead to 108-101.
NOTES: After appearing on "Saturday Night Live," Dexter Fowler of the Chicago Cubs attended the game, as did cast member Cecily Strong...The Knicks sent G Ron Baker, G Maurice Ndour and C Marshall Plumlee to the Westchester Knicks of the NBA D-League for practice on Saturday but recalled them in time to play in the game. ... F Knicks forward Lance Thomas came off the bench to score five points and grab two rebounds after missing the Chicago game with a sprained left ankle. ... The Knicks are now 1-2 at home, while the Jazz are 2-1 on the road. ... The Knicks host their rival Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday.