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Evening, friends. Finally, we have reached the last of the 10:30 tip-offs. The Knicks will close their dreary-ass road trip with a visit to Utah TONIGHT. The Jazz are the last team the Knicks beat (I believe that was...2006?), and theY really beat the JAZZ badly, but that took place in New York and between different lineups. Tonight at EnergySolutions Arena, the 24-8-there Jazz will have Paul Millsap healthy while the Knicks further adjust themselves to even more injuries.
Carmelo Anthony (knee drained, probably ready for the next one?) and Tyson Chandler (now it's the neck and it might be kinda bad?) remain sidelined. Tonight, Kurt Thomas joins them and nope just kidding, as I was typing this sentence they just decided Kurt Thomas has a bone spur in his foot but will play tonight?
Kurt/bone spur notwithstanding, there'll be a new starting lineup tonight:
Starters for tonight at Utah: Felton, Prigioni, Shumpert, Copeland, Martin
— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) March 19, 2013
Smallball could get weird against the fairly tall Jazz, but Pabloball should be exciting.
So, it'll be a different game than last time. With more manpower-- on the floor and in the crowd-- on their side plus the West's eighth seed dangling over their heads, the Jazz are less likely to fold. Without Melo AND Tyson Chandler and everyone else, the Knicks seem less likely to stomp the yard. They do have something, if something ephemeral, at stake, though: the Nets wrecked the Pistons tonight, so they'll move into a tie for 1.5th in the Atlantic should the Knicks lose. Plus 0-5 on the road trip would suck. Go the Knicks!
Tip-off's at 10:30. Visit SLC Dunk for excellent Jazz things. Please don't post large photos, .gifs, or links to illegal streams in the thread.