The Utah Jazz and New York Knicks are playing with no rest as they meet at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.
Favored by one point, the Jazz were in Brooklyn on Monday and suffered a 147-114 beatdown at the hands of the Nets to end a modest two-game winning streak.
Utah allowed 43 first-quarter points and could never recover. It marked the second time during their six-game road trip that the Jazz gave up at least 147 points (153 at New Orleans).
As nine-point favorites, the Knicks outscored the Hornets, 44-24, in the third quarter to pull away for a 113-92 victory at Charlotte. It marked a season sweep of the hapless Hornets, while Jalen Brunson (32 points) led the Knicks to their seventh straight win.
Utah defeated New York at home in mid-December, 117-113, as six-point underdogs. Collin Sexton paced the Jazz with 26 points, while Julius Randle put up 32 points in the defeat.
The Knicks continue to play without Randle, who sustained a right shoulder injury in Saturday’s win against the Heat and is expected to miss the next several weeks.
OG Anunoby will be asked to play more minutes at power forward in Randle’s absence, although he was a late scratch Monday with elbow inflammation.
The trade that brought him to New York has been a boon so far as the Knicks have gone 13-2 since his acquisition, and in that time the team owns the NBA’s best defensive rating and second-best net rating.
Anunoby’s status for Tuesday’s game is uncertain as the Knicks consider him day-to-day. Josh Hart drew the start on Monday at small forward and Precious Achiuwa at power forward. Hart was especially active with eight points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in 39 minutes.
The Jazz have posted a respectable 8-7 record in their last 15 road games, but their best victory came at Milwaukee. During this span, Utah won at Charlotte, Washington, Detroit, San Antonio, Toronto and Portland – all teams below .500.
The Jazz are also just 9-12-1 (42.9%) as road underdogs this season.
Betting on the NBA?
New York, which has won seven straight games and 13 of its last 15, has been on fire this month and it’s hard to think they will slow down, even with key injuries and against a Utah team that has the ability to score in bunches.
Let’s back New York against a weary Jazz team looking to go home after being on the road for two weeks.
Pick: Knicks -4.5 (-106, FanDuel)
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