By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The New York Knicks began its 2025 campaign with a bang after dominating the Utah Jazz, 119-103, in the ongoing NBA regular season on January 2, 2024.
With the win, the Eastern Conference squad just extended their winning streak to nine straight games and are the second-hottest team in the league next to the Oklahoma City Thunder who are gunning for their 13th consecutive dub.
Unlike their past eight wins where the Knicks immediately took control of the pace in the first half, the Jazz did a pretty solid job in containing their paint touches where they feasted against the Spurts, Washington, and Orlando.
Collin Sexton caught fire early for Utah and helped the Jazz build an early 10-point lead in the first half, backstopped by the steady presence of Lauri Markkanen and Keyonte George.
However, midway through the second frame, the duo of Mikal Bridges and Karl Anthony-Towns torched the Jazz with their in-and-out threat and helped the Knicks retake the lead heading into the second half.
Bridges set the tone with his aggressive drives to the basket and Towns picked up where he left off after sinking huge three-pointers before the second quarter was about to end.
Utah showed they still had enough gas left in the tank after countering with their highest-scoring quarter of the game in the third with a 33-point explosion, but the Knicks saved their best for last in the fourth highlighted by several defensive stops that stole the momentum.
OG Anunoby was huge for New York in the fourth as the two-way star showcased a defensive clinic that forced back-to-back stops that halted Utah’s scoring run.
After the huge defensive sequence, Towns sucked the life out of Utah after hitting cold-blooded dagger after dagger capped off by a running hook and a fade-away jumper from the left block.
Towns led the way for the Jalen Brunson-less New York team with 31 points, 21 rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block.
The dominant center was efficient in the field, sinking 10 out of his 20 attempts including 8/9 from the charity stripe and 3/6 from the three-point territory.
Bridges continued his hot shooting for the Knicks with 27 markers, while Anunoby ended the night with an all-around outing of 22 points, three boards, three steals, two blocks, and two dimes.
The Knicks will aim for their 10th straight dub on January 4, 2024, against the hottest squad in the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder.
