The New York Knicks have been far from impressive to open the 2014-15 season, entering Friday night's game against the Utah Jazz at Madison Square Garden with a 2-7 record. The team has been slow to figure out the triangle offense instituted by new head coach Derek Fisher, hasn't played much defense, and currently sits in the bottom 10 of the NBA in both points scored and allowed per 100 possessions. They have a long way to go to reach the postseason.
Carmelo Anthony tried to get them there himself on Friday, scoring 46 points and banking in a game-tying three-pointer (his only long-range attempt of the game) with two seconds left in regulation to give the Knicks a better chance at a victory. Unfortunately for them, point guard Trey Burke of the Jazz crushed those hopes with a clutch shot of his own:
Burke's shot gave the Jazz a 102-100 win, running their record to 4-6 as first-year head coach Quin Snyder continues to turn them into a more competitive squad. Gordon Hayward led the team with 33 points on 11-of-18 shooting.
While Melo's night was special (16-of-26 FG, 13-of-16 FT), his dominance points to other problems for the Knicks. Only one other player scored in double figures (Pablo Prigioni with 13 points) as the team attempted only eight three-point shots (making five). At the other end, Utah shot 51.4 percent from the field, 10-of-22 from deep, and 20-of-25 from the line.
In other words, there's a reason this team is second-to-last in the Eastern Conference, ahead of only the woeful 0-9 Philadelphia 76ers. They need a lot more than one great scorer to turn things around.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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