The Roundup—Jazz 87, Knicks 82

Playing without Gordon Hayward (back strain), the Jazz again relied on their defense and pulled out an 87-82 win over the New York Knicks Tuesday night at EnergySolutions Arena.

Two players in particular—Derrick Favors and Rodney Hood—came up big for the Jazz. Favors scored 20 of his game-high 29 points in the first half, while Hood scored 15 of his career-high 17 points in the second half. Together, the duo provided just enough offense for the Jazz to come out on top. 

Rudy Gobert filled the stat sheet with 10 points, 14 rebounds, three steals and four blocks, while Joe Ingles added 12 points and a team-high five assists.

Danté Exum played a career-high 37 minutes, finishing with eight points, four assists, a steal and a block.

New York’s trio of Alexey Shved (21 points), Andrea Bargnani (20 points) and Cole Aldrich (17 points) provided the bulk of the Knicks’ offense.

With the game tied 73-73 and just over six minutes remaining, Ingles isolated against Bargnani and drilled a jumper as the shot clock expired. Then, on Utah’s next possession, Ingles sank an open 3-pointer. The lefty added a scooping layup a minute later to complete his personal 7-2 run, which provided the Jazz with just enough cushion to hold on down the stretch.

Favors stepped up in Hayward’s absence, finishing with 29 points, 12 rebounds and two steals while providing a physical presence down low. He ran over Lou Amundson twice en route to easy layups, and he also threw down two monster dunks in traffic. And then, with just over two minutes left, Favors muscled away three New York players to grab a big offensive rebound. He was fouled and proceeded to sink both free throws to give the Jazz a five-point lead.

This was the seventh straight game that the Jazz held their opponent to fewer than 90 points. The team is 6-1 during that stretch, and the only loss was on a buzzer-beater in Boston. In those seven games, Utah is giving up an average of only 82.3 points.

After a cold-shooting first half (1-for-8 on threes), the Jazz turned it up a few notches down the stretch. Hood went 3-for-7, with each of his makes coming in the third quarter. Exum went 2-for-4 from deep and Ingles went 1-for-3. As a team, the Jazz went 6-for-18 from beyond the arc.

Late in the first quarter, Exum rose up and swatted away a 3-point attempt by New York’s Shane Larkin. The ball fell into Ingles’ hands and he immediately threw an over-the-top lob to a sprinting Exum, who packed down a two-handed slam. The Jazz finished with five blocks.

Trey Burke started alongside Exum but went only 1-for-11 from the field and 3-for-6 from the free-throw line. ... Hayward’s replacements—Hood and Elijah Millsap—had more fouls (six) than points (two) in the first half. … Shved had his first double-double of the season, finishing with 21 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, one steal and two blocks. He also went 4-for-7 from 3-point range.

The Jazz will stay at home for a game Thursday night against the Houston Rockets. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. MT and the game will be televised on ROOT SPORTS.