Knicks Look to Make it Two in a Row Vs. Jazz

After a big victory against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday, New York has a stiff test coming up, as the first-place Utah Jazz come to the Garden on Monday night.

The Jazz are off to a good start this season and play very well on both sides of the ball. Led by their dominant big man, Carlos Boozer, and the budding superstar point guard, Deron Williams, Utah leads the Northwest division of the Western Conference with 10 wins, including victories in eight of their last ten.

Utah comes into the Garden to face a New York team that will feel a lot better about themselves after their most recent victory. The Knicks won a big game on Saturday, bringing relief to the team and the end to a losing streak.

“It felt good to get a win…Right now, every day is about how we play as a team,” Zach Randolph said.

“Whenever you lose so many games in a row and come out and break that streak, there is always a sense of relief,” Quentin Richardson agreed.

Defense will be the key on Monday night, as the Knicks will need to exhibit the same intensity on that end that was exhibited on Saturday against Chicago. Utah is 8-1 when they score over 100 points in a game, but 2-3 when they are held below that mark. That means the Knicks will have to maintain their discipline, hustle and energy on the defensive end in order to defeat the Jazz.

Randolph understands the importance of a commitment on the defensive end:

“We have to play defense…It is something we have to do…We had energy, guys played hard, and we played defense…that’s all we need to do. If we play defense we’ll have a chance to win every night.”

“The way we played defense tonight is the way we needed to play,” Stephon Marbury agreed. “We played well in the Garden.”

Defending their home court is important to the Knicks, as they embark on a stretch of 11 home games in the next month.

“The fans see the effort we put out there today and they just want us to do that every game,” Knicks Center Eddy Curry commented after Saturday’s game. “But fortunately we have (a lot of) games coming up at home, so that’s an advantage.”

“Everybody wanted to win,” Marbury said of the team’s home game. “We were not going to lose (that) game. We never lost our poise and stayed within ourselves.”

If the Knicks are to defeat the Jazz, they will have to exhibit those same characteristics, as Utah has proven to be among the league’s elite. They do it on offense as the team is third in points per game with 106 on 48 percent shooting from the field, also good for third in the league. In addition, the Jazz excel at three-point shooting, as the team is seventh in the NBA in that category at 39 percent. The key to their offense is how well Utah distributes the ball since they rank first in assists with 26 per contest.

The Jazz enjoy a balanced offensive attack, but Boozer and Williams are the clear leaders. Boozer averages 24 points and over 11 rebounds per game, good for eighth and ninth in the league, respectively. He has become one of the elite young big men in the game since he came to Utah from Cleveland.

Williams is also a star as he is a young floor leader who scores well, but especially impresses as a distributor of the ball, ranking fifth in the league in assists. He averages 17 points and over eight dishes per game and is a key to Utah’s strong performance.

Ronni Brewer, Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko round out the starting lineup for the Jazz, and contribute a great deal themselves, averaging 36 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists and almost five steals between them.

Utah also gets the job done on defense as the Jazz are second in steals per game with 9.84 and second in rebounds allowed with 39.61 per game. Something will have to give in that regard, as New York is second in the NBA in boards with almost 46 per game.

In addition to their rebounding prowess, the Knicks are getting impressive play from their big men, Randolph and Curry. Randolph averages 18 points and over 12 rebounds per game. His fellow pitvotman, Curry, leads the team with 19 points and also chips in over six rebounds. Moreover, the two have developed a strong connection on the court, opening up opportunities for everyone.

“We are trying to figure out ways for both of us to get rolling out there and one way to do that is to look for each other out on the court,” Curry said.

“He’s a great passer. His passing sometimes get overlooked because of his rebounding,” Curry said of Randolph, “but he’s a great passer.”

However they do it, the Knicks understand that they need to get some wins at home.