Defensive lapses doom New York Knicks again vs. Utah Jazz

By Steve Popper for the Bergen Record and USA Today.

NEW YORK – Derrick Rose drove to the rim, slipping in another acrobatic layup in the fourth quarter Sunday afternoon and as he went to the free throw line to complete the three-point play the Madison Square Garden chanted his name.

But the other chant that briefly rose from the Garden crowd – “De-fense” – went unanswered as the Knicks once again could not stop anyone. Desperately trying to claw their way back in the final minute the Knicks instead fell asleep. With 35.3 seconds left after the Jazz inbounded on the sideline, Rodney Hood slipped behind the defense, no one within 10 feet of him as he took a pass for an uncontested dunk that summed up the problems in a 114-109 loss to Utah.

The Jazz put all five starters in double-figures, including Gordon Hayward, who made his first appearance of the season and scored 28 points – including 14-of-14 from the free throw line. Anthony and Porzingis had 28 points each for the Knicks. Rose finished with 18 points and 8 assists.

The defensive lapses struck again and again. Earlier in the fourth quarter Courtney Lee and Lance Thomas combined to steal the ball from Hayward, but Lee’s outlet pass for Rose was picked off by Hood, who fed it back to Hayward. This time Hayward drove the baseline for an uncontested dunk.

“It was defense the entire game,” Rose said. “We have to figure out what we want to do with the 1-3 and 1-4 pick and rolls. It was multiple times with two guys with the one guy or just miscommunication and they made us pay for it.

“It’s just miscommunication. That was the first time we really got a steady diet of it. We’ve got to be more detailed. Coach is doing a good job of being specific. But during the games it’s hard to adjust right away. But that’s what we’re working on and that’s what we’re working towards.”

The Knicks have now surrendered at least 100 points in every game this season, falling to 2-4 on the season. Lee pointed out last week that part of the problem stems from the Knicks practicing the triangle offense so much that they defend against that almost exclusively in scrimmages. It was a point that Knicks’ coach Jeff Hornacekadmitted there is some truth to in the early going. That leaves them grasping for answers against the pick and roll offense in games.

“I heard that he did say that it’s not a bad idea,” Lee said. “So I’m assuming next practice that we have we’ll probably go over that.  … That’s the majority of the NBA is pick and roll offense, trying to get the defense shifting. The more we get used to it and the better we get at it the better we’ll be in games at guarding it.”

“I mean, that’s the way that the game of basketball is being played these days, regardless of whether we want to admit to it or not,” Carmelo Anthony said. “That’s the game of basketball. Everybody runs it. If you can figure out a way to stop that then I think you can be successful in this league.”

The Knicks picked up early where they left off Friday. Porzingis scored 27 points in the win in Chicago and this time he scored 14 of the Knicks first 20 points over the first 7:39 of the game.

The Knicks led by 10 after the first quarter with Porzingis and Anthony combining for 24 of the Knicks first 26 points and stretched the advantage to 13 early in the second quarter. But the lead was down to 54-49 at halftime and fading.

After that quick start Porzingis didn’t score again until midway through the third quarter. With just 4:35 gone in the second half the Jazz took a 62-60 lead on a Rudy Gobert. The two sides traded baskets until the Knicks took an 80-78 lead into the fourth quarter. But starting a lineup of Kyle O’Quinn, Brandon Jennings, Mindaugas Kuzminskas, Lance Thomas and Justin Holiday the Knicks quickly gave up a 7-0 run, prompting a timeout and a quick return to the floor for Porzingis, Rose and Lee.

“The hope is that you have confidence in your guys on the bench,” Hornacek said. “You have to have confidence in them if they’re going to go out there for a few minutes and give the starters some rest. Some nights, it’s good, some nights it’s not.”

But the Knicks could never pull even again. The offense was fine, Rose’s drives to the rim prompting a chant of “Der-rick Rose” from the Garden crowd. But on the other end the Knicks couldn’t stop anyone. Rodney Hood and George Hill got it going and Hill delivered a pass to 7-foot-1 Rudy Gobert cutting down the lane with 2:36 left and he slammed it in with a lefty dunk over the 7-foot-3 Porzingis for a 106-97 Utah lead.

“I’m seeing improvement,” Rose said. “But it’s about the chemistry, it’s all about building the chemistry where if one guy messes up,  the other guy may have to give extra effort on that play to stop the ball and get that guy. It’s all about covering each other.”