With tough news earlier in the night, the New York Knicks were able to put that behind them and defeat the Utah Jazz.
That news was that Amare Stoudemire would miss the next six to eight weeks with right knee debridement surgery. Carmelo Anthony also missed tonight’s game with right knee soreness. Both really are the leaders on this team and tonight seemed like it would be tough.
JR Smith stepped up and continued to score for the team. Smith scored a team high 24 points in 28 minutes of action. He really did an excellent job in using an array of moves to score. That really kept the Jazz off balanced and allowed Smith to score.
Steve Novak caught fire tonight as he poured in a season high 20 points. Novak made five three-pointers in what would be a great night for him.
A total of six Knick players scored in double figures tonight. That balance of scoring really was the difference tonight.
Overall without Carmelo and Amare, the Knicks really did a nice job in playing as one unit. Chris Copeland saw some action late in the ball game and he would score 12 points in seven minutes. Copeland really can be useful now that Stoudemire is out. His scoring ability alone makes him a viable option for Head Coach Mike Woodson.
Tonight the Knicks played great defense and really forced the Jazz to take contested jump shots. This was a nice performance, but in order to continue that they must bring the energy every night. Tonight they played defense the entire game and really never had any poor defensive lapses. The Knicks will start a five game road trip starting Monday night. That game will be against the Golden State Warriors.
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
Twitter: @CaardelEaddy and or @CaardelsBlog
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