I figure this way, Farfa can do his awesome recaps whenever he gets a chance, but in the meantime, we could have a general recap thread rather than drag out the game thread ad infintum.
From Marc Berman at the Post:
There was no stopping Utah killer Austin Rivers in the first half Tuesday. The slumping Knicks guard dropped a career-high 25 points in 12 minutes and made his first 10 shots — five of them 3-pointers.
And the Knicks were thumping the Jazz like they did in earlier this month when Rivers scored the game’s final 14 points.
But the magic stopped for Doc Rivers’ son. Rivers pushed off on a drive, picking up his third foul with 4:30 left in the opening half and Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau decided to pull Rivers and his perfect game.
The night was never the same. Rivers didn’t come back until there was 4:11 left in the third quarter and had lost his hottest of hands as the Jazz rallied from 15 points down to gain revenge on the Knicks, 108-94, at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.
Rivers finished with those 25 as the Knicks (8-11) finished the four-game Western trip at 1-3. Rivers missed all four of his shots in the second half as the Jazz heated up from 3 and the Knicks dropped the final three games of the trip after notching the opener against Golden State.
It was obviously a tale of two halves. In the first half, Rivers was unconscious and the Jazz couldn’t buy a bucket and in the second half, well, as noted, Rivers didn’t score a single point and the Jazz got hot from three as the Invisible Sixth Man sprained his ankle trying to cover Mike Conley.
It was disappointing seeing the Knicks fade so dramatically in the fourth quarter, as they still clung to a one point lead entering the quarter (only one because Rivers fouled Conley thinking that the Knicks had a foul to give when they did not) but then the Jazz opened with a 20-3 run, but hey, the Jazz are a really good team. They’re one of the best defenses in the game and their three-point centric offense is particularly a problem for a team like the Knicks.
Last game, Mitchell Robinson dominated Rudy Gobert, but this time, the All-NBA Frenchman got the best of Robinson.
Immanuel Quickley and Alec Burks both had terrible shooting nights and Obi Toppin, Elfrid Payton and Kevin Knox were mostly invisible. Julius Randle and RJ Barrett both had decent games.
The Knicks are thankfully finished with a tough West Coast stint and return to the Garden for a game against the Cavaliers on Friday that will hopefully see the Knicks return to winning some games.