Utah Jazz vs. New York Knicks: Keys to the Game

The Utah Jazz will look to shake off their disappointing three-game losing streak as they host the New York Knicks tonight while celebrating the 20-year reunion of their 1997 NBA Finals team.

The Utah Jazz’s loss to the Indiana Pacers on Monday saw two very interesting streaks continue. First, it was Indiana’s 14th consecutive game where they have alternated between winning and losing each game. The Pacers have been a completely different squad at home this season and it clearly showed within Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Monday.

The Jazz, meanwhile dropped their third straight game in a row and their second straight against a team that was playing on the second night of a back-to-back. That certainly isn’t a great streak for the Jazz to be boasting by any means, especially considering that they came into each of the final two contests relatively well-rested.

And not to be even more of a Debbie Downer, but Utah has struggled immensely in the first home game following a long road trip so far this season, which is what they’ll face tonight when they take on the New York Knicks at Vivint Smart Home Arena. As I mentioned in my preview and outlook piece from this weekend, Utah is just 1-3 this year in their first game at home following a road trip of three games or more.

Fortunately, this time around the game will be against the weakest opponent they’ve faced in such a situation yet as the Knicks are just 27-43 on the season and at seven games back from eighth place in the East, are all but out of playoff contention.

Therefore, the game will feature a Jazz team with plenty to play for against a Knicks team that, while you might say they could be dangerous since they don’t have much to lose, truly doesn’t have much to aspire for. Given that New York has lost five of their last six, I’d say it’s pretty likely that they’ll be leaning more towards unmotivated than recklessly threatening.

Furthermore, the game will be nationally televised on ESPN and will also feature the highly anticipated 20th reunion of the Jazz’s 1997 NBA Finals squad, so this should give the team ample motivation and determination to come out and put up a spectacular performance in order to come away with the win.

Nevertheless, the Jazz have been in quite a funk lately so it isn’t safe to assume anything. They were recently burned by two teams that hypothetically should have been worn out and struggled to match wits with the grind-it-out Jazz. Yet, in the loss to Chicago, Utah’s offense couldn’t find its rhythm and in the loss to Indiana, Utah struggled to get stops.

So they’ll have plenty to correct if they hope to come away with a win over the Knicks and increase their lead over the Clippers for fourth place in the West back to one whole game leading up to Saturday’s showdown in LA. It’s crunch time for the Jazz and every win means a little bit more, so if Utah is going to get it done against New York, they’ll need to especially perform well in the following key areas.