Lauri Markkanen says he still has 'full belief in this team' after Jazz lose to Knicks

NEW YORK — Will Hardy gave a list of the decisions he was already second-guessing after the Utah Jazz's 118-103 loss to the New York Knicks Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.

There was going away from the box-and-one defensive scheme that helped limit Jalen Brunson but helped get Donte DiVincenzo's 33-point night going. There was moving to a pick-and-roll attack early after the Knicks did a good job of sticking with Lauri Markkanen on off-ball screens. And plenty more smaller moments along the way.

"Yeah, I hate myself right now," Hardy said, a small smile appearing on his face. "I don't feel good. I don't think I did a good job, believe me."

It's been a rough couple of days in New York for the Jazz. Twenty four hours after the Jazz lost the rope in the third quarter against the Nets in Brooklyn, the same thing happened against the Knicks in Manhattan.

"I'm excited that we get to get home and have a practice," Hardy said. "Just get back to work and do some of the things that are hard to do when you're on a long road trip. It's time to get back to Utah."

The work to fix the alarming trends that sprung up over the six-game road trip that had the Jazz go 2-4 (with three of those losses being blowout defeats) will begin before the team even lands in Salt Lake City.

Collin Sexton said he and the guards had already made plans to watch games and talk through the issues on the flight back home.

"We all just talk about the game and what could have been, what we could have done better, and I feel like that's been helping us," he said. "Five-hour flight. Might as well stay up all night."

A review of Tuesday's game will show poor transition defense, poor rebounding, and poor recognition of game situations; that last one really stood out to Hardy.

On Monday in Brooklyn, an ill-advised Simone Fontecchio drive to the basket led to a wide-open 3-pointer on the other end. The floodgates soon opened for the Nets.

A similar thing occurred Tuesday in Madison Square Garden. With the Jazz down 63-60 early in the third quarter, Sexton tried a half-court alley-oop that ricocheted off the backboard. A few minutes later, the Knicks had rolled off a 27-6 run and blown the game open.

"We need to do a better job as a team, as a staff, as a group, as a whole of recognizing the situations," Hardy said. "I feel like at times we just get loose and we think that we're just kind of playing an up-and-down game with another team. That's not how we've changed our season. That's not how we've changed the identity of our team."

What's the reason behind the sudden playground type of play? There are plenty of potential answers to that. The Jazz were on the the final stop of a six-game, 12-day road trip. There's also the trade deadline looming next week, with many players having seen and heard their names thrown out as possible targets.

Lauri Markkanen was one of the last players to leave the locker room after Tuesday's loss. He sat alone at the end of a bench and looked solemn as he browsed his phone, where he looked frustrated and disappointed.

But even with the cracks starting to show on what had been an unexpected dream run for the Jazz, he remains confident in the group.

"We have a good opportunity to go home and take some of these things," he said. "Still full belief in this team. Nothing lasts forever."

Both the good and the bad.

"When you're on a win streak, you appreciate all the good times; and at the same time, you know you'll lose at some point. It's the same mindset when you're struggling a little bit; you're gonna figure it out at some point you just got to keep putting the work in."

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