Knicks misfire on three-pointers vs. Jazz as rally falls short
Knicks' Julius Randle, left, and Jalen Brunson look on while sitting on bench during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023, in Salt Lake City. Credit: AP/Rick Bowmer
SALT LAKE CITY — It was 80s Throwback Night at the Delta Center and for much of the night the Knicks seemed to play along — Julius Randle muscling his way through the Jazz defense for 32 points and the Knicks shooting from beyond the arc as if it was before long-range shooting became a part of the game.
In the present, the Knicks had to live with seeing a game escape their grasp as they fell, 117-113, for an ugly start to a five-game road trip that only gets harder from here.
“You could say the shots were not falling, whatever,” said Jalen Brunson who finished with 23 points. “We’ve got to control what we can control. That’s our just hustling on the defensive side of the ball. We’ve got to be better.”
The Knicks made a move Wednesday, agreeing in principle to bring back 38-year-old Taj Gibson to aid the frontcourt depleted by the ankle surgery that will sideline Mitchell Robinson for at least two months and likely longer. On this night, it looked like they needed to make a much bigger deal.
Randle kept the Knicks in the game with little help anywhere else. Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau shuffled players in and out, but in the thin air of the Delta Center nearly every player seemed a little off. As a team the Knicks shot just 9-for-39 from beyond the arc.
The Knicks fell behind by as many as 17 in the fourth quarter and pushed back into the game, closing to within 110-103 on a three-point play by Donte DiVincenzo with 3:06 left. But after Lauri Markkanen misfired from three, Collin Sexton grabbed the rebound, scored and drew a foul on the play, pushing the lead back to double-figures.
“We want to play for a full 48 minutes, playing our style of basketball, the way we want to play,” Brunson said. “We can’t have lapses like that and lose a game. I just think we’ve got to do a better job of staying connected and staying focused, not relaxing when we get a lead.”
DiVincenzo, who scored 14 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, struck again with a three to close the gap to five with 2:13 remaining, but the Knicks just could not get the stop they needed as Sexton drew a foul on the other end, converting both. Brunson turned the ball over, but the Jazz came up empty.
Randle was fouled, converting a pair for his first points of the fourth quarter and the deficit was five again. A Utah miss and Brunson grabbed the rebound, fouled before he even hit the ground with 54.8 seconds left. He made both free throws to pull the Knicks within three at 115-112.
Kelly Olynyk misfired on a three and the Knicks called time with the ball and 33.6 seconds to play. Immanuel Quickley, back after sitting out Monday’s game with inflammation in his right knee, was a game-time decision and immediately paid dividends. He hit his first five field goal attempts off the bench. But he played just 18 minutes, scoring 15 points in that span.
He returned during the timeout, but the Knicks got a three-point attempt from Josh Hart, who was 0-for-5 on the night, 0-for-4 from three, and he missed with 27.2 seconds left. Quickley grabbed the rebound and kicked it to Brunson, who missed from far beyond the arc with 21.8 left.
“That was sort of the story of the game,” Thibodeau said. “You’re going to have nights like that. I thought we created a lot of good shots. If you’re open you’ve got to shoot them. If you hesitate, then you put it down, now you’re taking one that’s a lower percentage one when the first one was wide-open. And oftentimes that’s what leads to your second shot as well. So we can’t hesitate. Got to shoot the open ones.”
This time Utah got the loose ball and Olynyk hit a pair from the line with 20.2 seconds remaining. DiVincenzo airballed a three with 14.4 seconds left to end the threat. Utah, just 8-16 on the season, hung on to the game and dealt the Knicks a painful start to a five-game road trip.
Notes & quotes: To make room on the roster for Gibson the Knicks waived Dylan Windler, who was on a non-guaranteed contract that would not fully vest until January 7.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
