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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Jazz coach Ty Corbin has done just about everything he can think of to improve Utah’s recent offensive woes.
Regardless of the effort, the Jazz continue to struggle offensively over the course of games, specifically in the second half of games. Against the New York Knicks, an Eastern Conference underachiever that is fighting for the final seed of the playoffs, it was expected that Utah would have a chance to overcome a recent series of offensive struggles.
Instead, it was no dice for the Jazz as New York beat Utah 92-83, with the Jazz shooting only 38.8 percent from the floor on the night.
A day after a losing effort against the Oklahoma City Thunder Sunday, it was again Utah that fell short offensively. The Jazz scored over 100 points on March 16 in a loss at San Antonio. Now, with the season down to its final seven games, Utah is hoping to find the cause for its offensive issues.
The Jazz held a 49-48 halftime lead and appeared to be on track to beat a New York team that also was coming in on the back end of a back-to-back. Still, Utah shot only 40 percent from the floor in the third quarter, and made only two of eight 3-point shot attempts.
Corbin said the third quarter was the deciding factor in the ballgame.
“(We) missed shots,” said Corbin, whose Jazz were outscored by the Knicks 31-20 in the third quarter. “We’re right there, it’s 67-67, we miss two free throws, and (New York) goes on a 12-2 run to finish the quarter. That’s the difference in the game.”
Jazz guard Gordon Hayward, who finished with 18 points, said Utah struggled to adjust to the New York defense in the second half.
“For whatever reason, we didn’t figure out the way they were guarding our plays,” he said. “And too many turnovers. It’s on us getting to our spots early, and being sharp in our cuts. (It’s about) making sure that everything we’re doing is with a purpose.”
Corbin attributed much of the offensive struggle over the last few games to a lack of consistency from scorers.
“It’s happened to us the last few games where we’ve hit that little lull and we just can’t score,” he said. “It happened again tonight. We’ve just got to keep fighting and try and get better.”
While there have been times during the season where the Jazz’s defense has been criticized, Utah did an admirable job against New York, holding the Knicks below their season average.
Utah forward Marvin Williams drew the unenviable task of guarding Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, who finished with 34 points. Still, there was an overall positivity about Utah’s defense — something Williams said comes from Utah’s inner confidence.
“You have to show from growth (in difficult moments), and I feel like we’ve done that,” said Williams, who finished with five points and 10 rebounds. “There have been times where we’ve gotten down, and we’ve just scrapped and clawed our way back into games. And I really think that when situations like that happen, we have to remember that as a team.”
Utah finished the month of March with a record of 2-15. Corbin said the Jazz will take the experience of endurance away from the month, despite the losing streak.
“It was a difficult month, especially against this young group,” he said. “The thing that we wanted to make sure that we did was have this group experience it now, and we understood it was going to be difficult. We understood there was going to be a lot of learning; a lot of teaching for the guys to learn how to manage their life and then manage their jobs in the same time.”
