Daily Report – 3/12/26
Knicks
Last night’s game was awful, but at least the Knicks won. You could say they triumphantly overcame an 18-point deficit to beat Utah 134-117, but the truth is, their poor defense allowed a young Jazz team to shoot 14-of-21 from downtown in the first half. The oldest player in Utah’s starting lineup was 22 years old.
To their credit, though, the Knicks only gave up four more threes in the second half. In his return to Utah, Jordan Clarkson scored 27 points, the second most on the Knicks, despite having fallen out of their bench rotation in recent weeks. Clarkson received a video tribute for his 5 ½ seasons spent in Utah, where he won the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2021.
“For him to go out there and perform the way he did, you couldn’t ask for anything better. And it goes to show he’s not just keeping his body right, but his mind is in a good spot to go after coming in when you’re down in the first half,” said head coach Mike Brown.
“Just to see that, you couldn’t ask for anything better. Especially from him, a veteran who hasn’t been playing or in the rotation, and all of a sudden, we need him.”
Clarkson shot a team-best 10-for-15 from the field in 26 minutes, which was necessary because the Knicks were without Josh Hart. In his place, Mikal Bridges and Landry Shamet started for the Knicks, and they combined for just 12 points.
Clarkson also netted five offensive rebounds, as did Mitchell Robinson, which played a crucial role in the Knicks’ second-half resurgence. They finished the game with an 18-13 advantage in second-chance points.
After entering halftime trailing by nine points, the Knicks outscored Utah by 11 in the third quarter and by 15 in the fourth. After giving his teammates a spirited pep talk during halftime, Jordan Clarkson led the Knicks in scoring with 19 second-half points.
“We committed eight turnovers for 15 points [in the first half], and a lot of them were unforced,” Brown remarked. “A lot of those turnovers led to early baskets in transition for Utah. They had 27 fastbreak points in that first half, the way we calculate it. We cleaned both those areas at halftime. We had just four turnovers in the second half, giving up four points off those turnovers, and then we gave up just five fastbreak points in the second half.”
Meanwhile, Bridges’s poor shooting continued to plague the Knicks. As the NBA’s Iron Man, with the longest active streak of consecutive games played, Bridges has generally been a reliable player. However, for the second straight game, Brown benched Bridges in the fourth quarter.
Five points in 27 minutes – that isn’t going to cut it. Neither will Bridges’s team-worst 140.4 defensive rating yesterday, nor the zero points he scored in 27 minutes against the Lakers on Sunday. Maybe it’s time for the NBA’s Iron Man to – yeah, I’m going to say it – miss a game.
“I think it’s just the game of basketball,” Bridges replied when asked about his recent struggles. “Sometimes you try to get open, and sometimes it doesn’t find me. Just try to find ways to stay aggressive. That’s it.”
Bridges’s absence in last night’s fourth quarter helped Clarkson put the Knicks back on top. This was surely a game he had circled on his calendar from Day One with the Knicks.
“It’s not the first time I’ve been hot in this arena,” Clarkson said. “Just being able to start the flame and keep it going.”
Clarkson’s 27 points were second only to Jalen Brunson’s 28, which included eight assists, three steals, and 18 second-half points. But like a good captain, he let his teammates bask in the spotlight.
If Brunson and his teammates can improve their three-point defense, it would pay dividends for the Knicks. The Knicks have the seventh-best defensive rating in the NBA, but their opponents average 13.7 made triples per game, the 10th most in the NBA.
When the Knicks return to action tomorrow night in Indianapolis, they must start working harder at building a tough defensive unit from beyond the arc. Perhaps they can learn from the Pacers, a team that allows the fewest three-pointers per game in the NBA, despite having the worst record in the Eastern Conference.
Schedule
8:00 PM: NYR at WPG; MSG, Gotham Sports
