The New York Knicks spent two nights in Los Angeles and struggled with turnovers.
Coming off two of their highest turnover totals all season, the Knicks attempt to avoid a third straight loss Wednesday night when they meet the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City.
New York, which won 16 of 21 before landing in Los Angeles, seeks to avoid its fourth three-game losing streak of the year after falling by a combined 21 points to the Lakers and Clippers. The Knicks committed 19 turnovers in Sunday’s 110-97 loss to the Lakers, then their 20 giveaways in Monday’s 126-118 setback to the Clippers were one shy of a season low.
The Knicks allowed 43 points off turnovers in Los Angeles and their opponents combined for 22 steals. On Monday, New York committed seven turnovers in the first quarter and fell behind by 15 late in the third quarter.
“I think a lot of them, we were getting downhill and trying to make plays,” said New York guard Jalen Brunson, who accounted for 10 turnovers in the two games. “But we got to be better playing off two feet obviously, playing more controlled.”
Brunson scored 28 Monday to support a 35-point showing from Karl-Anthony Towns. Brunson scored 24 on Sunday but also committed a career high-tying seven turnovers.
“We’ve been pretty good in that area and yesterday we weren’t and today we weren’t,” New York coach Mike Brown said Monday night. “It’s one of those things we’re going to keep talking about, keep showing it and we’ll see how it goes forward. I’m not going to overreact to two games. On the road against good teams, it impacted the outcome of both games in a very heavy way.”
The Knicks shot 56% and hit 21 3-pointers on Dec. 5 when they rolled to a 146-112 home win over Utah in a game that featured a 47-point third quarter.
Utah is 12-31 since its rough visit to New York as it attempts to win consecutive games for the fourth time this season.
On Monday, the Jazz placed eight in double figures to earn a 119-116 home win over the Golden State Warriors.
Brice Sensabaugh scored 21 points and has gone 13 of 25 from the field in his past two games after going 13 of 53 (24.5%) in his previous four. Kyle Filipowski added 19 points and 15 rebounds for his third straight double-double and 10th overall.
“It’s a great team effort,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said. “A lot of people made big plays at different moments. I think you’re seeing the cohesiveness of the team, how they feed off each other and recognize each other’s skill sets. I’m really happy for our guys.”
Hardy saw his team shoot 48.2% in a game with 19 lead changes and 12 ties – a nice improvement from the 34.4% showing in Saturday’s 113-99 loss at Milwaukee. Hardy also leaned on his bench and the second unit totaled 50 points while starting guard Keyonte George (15 points) was held to 24 minutes after being questionable with an illness.
The Jazz earned the win without rookie Ace Bailey, who sat out with an illness. Bailey was held to nine points Saturday, but scored a career-high 32 two nights earlier in a 10-point win at Washington.
