The New York Knicks are set to embark on their first long road trip of the season, with matchups against the Jazz, Nuggets, Warriors, Suns, and Thunder on the horizon. The 6-7 Knicks currently sit in ninth place in the East, which was expected.
However, what wasn’t necessarily expected was the way in which the team has looked in its losses. New York is coming off a brutal loss to an Oklahoma City team that’s in the midst of a rebuild, and last week, the Knicks were blown out by a struggling Nets team. Their upcoming schedule doesn’t look much better, with three of their five road trip opponents currently sitting in the top four in the West.
According to SNY’s Ian Begley, based on how New York fares on the road, the organization could move forward with a “significant change.” With Tom Thibodeau’s job on the line, the Knicks have their work cut out for them.
Predicting how Knicks will perform against top Western Conference opponents
5: Knicks at Jazz
New York’s trip will start with a stop at Vivint Arena to take on the Utah Jazz. When the 2022-23 schedule was released, this game was originally set to be televised by TNT, but with Donovan Mitchell being traded to the Cavaliers, the Nets-Kings game took its place.
Although the Jazz traded away their two stars in the offseason, Utah’s been off to an unexpectedly hot start. Sitting at 10-5, the Jazz have had a series of impressive wins, including knocking off Ja Morant and the Grizzlies twice already. This might’ve originally looked like a winnable game for the Knicks, but now, the odds have shifted in the Jazz’s favor.
Lauri Markkanen, who was sent to Utah as part of the Mitchell trade, is averaging a team-high 21.8 points and 8.6 rebounds.
Utah is on a two-game losing streak with losses against Washington and Philadelphia, but the team has yet to lose at home. The Jazz’s surge may not be sustainable for the entire 82-game season, but it should be enough for Utah to knock off New York on Tuesday.
Utah 128, New York 117