SALT LAKE CITY — Finding consistency is still a work in progress for Utah heading into 2019.
Persistent questions face the Jazz on both ends of the court heading into Saturday’s clash with the New York Knicks.
Utah has fit the definition of roller-coaster team to this point in the season. The Jazz have shown a tendency to follow elite defensive play with flat efforts and alternate sizzling shooting performances with acute offensive struggles.
It is truly feast or famine with Utah this season. The Jazz proved it once again in Thursday’s 117-94 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
They allowed the Sixers to shoot 50 percent from the field and were outscored 48-38 in the paint. The Sixers generally got great looks at the basket for four quarters and made Utah pay.
“We weren’t on the same level defensively that we’ve been (over) the last month,” Jazz center Rudy Gobert said. “We had some bad stretches and they made some big runs. We couldn’t recover from it.”
Utah (17-19) didn’t do itself any favors on offense. The Jazz shot just 38.4 percent from the field and started slowly in each half. They missed nine of their first 10 shots in the first quarter. Then, in the third quarter, Utah missed seven of nine shots and committed three turnovers in the first half of the quarter.
It allowed the Sixers to build a double-digit lead they never relinquished.
“They’re a very talented team offensively and they know who they are,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. “They were able to get the things they wanted against our defense.”
The Knicks (9-27) are also searching for answers as 2018 winds down. New York has won just two games in December and carries a six-game losing streak into Salt Lake City after losing back-to-back games against Milwaukee on Tuesday and Thursday.
In those two games, the Bucks won by an average of 15 points while scoring 110.5 points. Knicks coach David Fizdale shook up the starting lineup on Thursday, replacing Enes Kanter with second-year center Luke Kornet, and the move gave them an early spark.
Kornet stretched the defense a bit, going 7 of 11 from 3-point range. He finished with 23 points, matching his career high.
It could open the door for Kornet, who played 10 games in the G-League earlier this season, to have a larger role going forward.
“That’s what I was hoping for, a guy that was going to space the floor for us,” Fizdale told the New York Post on Thursday. “He opened up the floor for us to be able to attack the paint.”
If Kornet is able to create more space, it could help Kevin Knox continue to blossom.
The 6-foot-9 forward ranks in the top 10 in scoring and rebounding among NBA rookies. Knox has averaged 17.5 points and 6.1 rebounds in December after scoring in double figures just five times in November.
The Knicks swept the season series with the Jazz last season. Utah has won three of its last four home games with New York, however, averaging 104.0 points and shooting 45.9 percent from the field.
Gobert has been a big factor in many of those games. In his last five games against the Knicks, the Jazz center has averaged 18.4 points on 70.2 percent shooting, 11.8 rebounds and 3.2 blocks in 36.2 minutes per game.
