Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko each scored 23 points, and the Utah Jazz won in New York for the first time in more than five years by beating the Knicks 95-93 on Monday night. Mehmet Okur had the go-ahead basket with 1:16 to play and finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Jazz, who opened a difficult four-game road trip by winning at Madison Square Garden for the first time since Feb. 20, 2004. Deron Williams was limited to five points but had 16 assists. Utah, which earned its first road victory of the season, visits Boston next and wraps up the trip Saturday night at Cleveland. Rookie Toney Douglas scored a season-high 21 points for the Knicks, who nearly dug their way out of another huge deficit with a big fourth-quarter rally. But he missed just before the buzzer, sending New York (1-7) to its fourth straight loss. Wilson Chandler scored 17 points, and Larry Hughes and David Lee each had 12 for the Knicks. The Jazz led by 21 points early in the second half but the Knicks rallied with an effective zone defense, taking advantage of Utah's perimeter shooting woes while top outside threat Kyle Korver (left knee surgery) remains sidelined. Utah was still ahead by 11 with under 8 minutes to play before Al Harrington and Danilo Gallinari drilled consecutive 3-pointers to start a 10-0 run that cut it to 84-83 on Harrington's dunk with 6:21 remaining. Consecutive layups by Douglas tied it at 93 with 1:36 left and the Knicks forced another miss, but the rebound went right to Okur for a tip-in and the lead for good. The Knicks missed with three more chances to tie, the final one Douglas' tough attempt in the closing seconds. Continued... |