The NY Knicks and Utah Jazz are playing live on the NBA schedule on Friday night and the matchup from Madison Square Garden in New York starts up at 7:30 pm ET and comes as the Knicks are struggling and they are now 2-7 and have lost six in a row after opening at 2-1 and now Carmelo Anthony and company will have to get things going against Utah.
The Knicks are scuffling and they are hoping to turn things around and they need better play overall from everyone, including Carmelo Anthony. Amar'e Stoudemire will be out for the game on Friday night and the team could use for the bench to step up and right now they simply are not scoring enough, not playing enough defense and they are not getting to the line enough either. The team is taking 13 fewer foul shots per game this season than last year and that has been a huge difference in their scoring.
The Knicks come into this game after a very close loss and that saw JR Smith opt to take the final shot selfishly over passing to an open Carmelo and that is something the team needs to address. Smith has always been a selfish player and he had one good year for the Knicks and the rest was mostly a mess and now he could be moved eventually if the team can find someone to take him.
The Knicks come in after getting 27 points from Carmelo and they had Iman Shumpert lead the way with eight rebounds and now they have the Jazz at home before a matchup with the Denver Nuggets. The Knicks are 2-7 on the season and the Jazz are 3-6 on the year and the team really needs to find a way to stop this slide. The Knicks started the season 3-13 last year and they are still on that trajectory and they are hoping this isn't a repeat from last year when the team missed the playoffs.
The Toronto Raptors have been off to a great start and they are 7-2 on the season, ahead of the Brooklyn Nets. The Jazz come into the game after a loss against the Atlanta Hawks and they have a matchup with the Raptors after playing against the Knicks. The Knicks have lost six straight and they are hoping to stop the slide at home against the Jazz and after playing against the Nuggets the team has a tough stretch, with five of the next six on the road. The team has the Bucks, Timberwolves and Sixers next before playing the Rockets, Mavs and Thunder and that will be a tough stretch before finishing the month against Miami.