Utah Jazz at New York Knicks: Keys to breaking the road curse

Key #1 – Make the Knicks work for every shot

One of the reasons why the New York Knicks have been such an improved squad so far this year is that they are converting at a very high rate from the field. In fact, they’re third in the NBA in field goal percentage at 47.8 percent. This is balanced out somewhat by a subpar percentage from deep, but the fact remains that the Knicks are doing a good job of taking advantage of their shot opportunities.

This is largely due to the fact that Kristaps Porzingis is shooting exceptionally well on a hefty 21.4 attempts per game. Also, former Jazzman Enes Kanter has been unbelievably efficient at 63.6 percent from the field on nearly 10 attempts per game and truly all of New York’s big men have been productive. Then there’s Doug McDermott who’s off to an uncharacteristically hot start, shooting 52.5 percent from the field.

This good start has made the Knicks a much more dangerous offensive team than many might have believed they would be heading into the season.

Therefore, the Jazz will need to make sure that their defense is firing on all cylinders and that they are forcing the Knicks into as many tough looks as possible. That unfortunately was far from the case in Utah’s loss on Monday to the Minnesota Timberwolves as the T-Wolves were allowed to shoot 52.1 percent from the field and 50 percent from deep. Several of those were uncontested or lazily contested jump shots, and many more were easy blow-bys to the rim.

Perhaps none was more guilty of allowing such easy drives to the hole as Ricky Rubio as he put up his most uninspiring defensive performance of the year against the Timberwolves (which is a very concerning sign for his team). But he was far from the only culprit and the Jazz will have to step up as a whole if they hope to top an efficient shooting New York Knicks team.