The Utah Jazz had their chances.
Svi Mykhailiuk bricked a clean corner three 43 seconds after tipoff. Seven-foot fringe All-Star Lauri Markkanen botched an alley-oop over the 6-4 Josh Hart, then smoked the uncontested putback. Jusuf Nurkic rolled into the lane, got fouled, fumbled the continuation, missed both free throws — and then missed his next shot point-blank over Hart. Ace Bailey, the Jazz’s prized 2025 lottery pick, clanged a wide-open three off a pindown screen.
In truth, Utah offered itself as tribute to the record books.
But it takes two to make history, and the Knicks were more than willing dance partners. What began as a 13–0 snowball became a full avalanche — a blistering 23-0 start that ballooned into a 146-112 demolition at Madison Square Garden on Friday. The Jazz went scoreless for the first 6:33, the second-longest scoring drought to open a game since the Showtime Lakers opened with a 29-0 blitz against the Sacramento Kings in 1987.
And here’s the connective tissue between those Lakers and these Knicks: both entered their historic nights carrying the weight of a conference-finals heartbreak — and both wield the same ceiling-defining superpower. They run. They run off makes, off misses, off anything resembling an opportunity, turning defense into a brand of transition offense that can break opponents before the game even begins.
“It’s pretty cool,” Jalen Brunson said. “We were able to get stops and we were converting on the other side of the court. Not really thinking about it, you’re just going out there and executing… I haven’t been part of something like that in a while.”
‘COULDN’T MAKE A SHOT’
There’s a standing ovation inside The Forum that night in ’87 — but not for the Lakers. The cheers are for Derek Smith, the Kings guard whose free throw at the 2:54 mark of the first quarter finally ended Sacramento’s scoring drought. Nearly eight minutes earlier, the Lakers engulfed Smith’s layup attempt whole. Off they were to the races: Magic Johnson hit Byron Scott. Scott hit the mid-range. Moments later, James Worthy pushed tempo and found A.C. Green for a dunk.
Over and over and over again. Before the Kings inhaled, they were down 40–4. The Jazz knew the feeling; they trailed the Knicks 41–13 after one.
“They’re a good team, obviously. They got comfortable and made a lot of shots,” Markkanen said. “We were getting pretty good looks at the start of the game, but we just couldn’t make a shot. Obviously, against a good team like this, it’s hard to climb back up.”
That’s the cloth connecting Showtime to New York’s new-age pace-and-space. The Jazz spotted the Knicks a 16–0 lead. The Knicks stole the next seven points by force.
One possession crystallized the problem: Markkanen flashed to the middle for what should have been an easy pass in a comfortable spot. But Hart nearly intercepted the ball, forcing it out of the Jazz All-Star’s hands to the weak side of the floor. Utah resorted to the Nurkic screen-and-roll. McBride beat him to the spot, and Towns blocked his shot from behind.
Just like that, it’s showtime: Towns pushed the ball to Hart, who found Mikal Bridges streaking for a dunk in transition. A few possessions later, Bridges would intercept a Jazz outlet pass, save the ball back inbounds to Towns, then beat Utah up the court for a layup off his own steal.
“We always talk about if you’re in the right shift position defensively, your teammate’s going to have your back. It’s never this guy is on an island by himself, it’s five guys guarding the basketball,” Mike Brown said. “Our rotations were on point, we got to shooters, we contested shots, and then we got out and ran.
“We had five guys on a string defensively for a while there to start the game.”
‘NO MORE’
Like the Showtime Lakers, these Knicks are built for transition, not by accident but by identity. Brown’s up-tempo system has unshackled a wing core — Hart, Bridges, McBride and OG Anunoby — that thrives when the game speeds up.
Yet those Lakers didn’t build on a 40-4 lead to win 160-16. Basketball is a game of runs. The Knicks know this all-too well.
They’ve recorded 11 40-point quarters — five more than any other team — including four in first quarters and three in second quarters. Yet they’ve also blown double-digit leads to Toronto, Brooklyn, Milwaukee, and suffered a 32-point swing behind Jaylen Brown in Boston.
Friday broke the trend. Utah chopped the lead to 19 early in the third then never saw the teens again. The Knicks stretched the advantage to 41 by the end of the period.
“I think Mike said something at halftime like make sure we come out third quarter aggressive,” Hart said. “Obviously, we’ve got to continue to learn how to play with big leads, but that’s a good problem to have.”
Brown isn’t overly concerned about the blown leads either.
“It’s hard in this league to go up 20 and then maintain 20 the rest of the game,” he said. “They’re going to go on a run. And then you put your foot in the sand and say, ‘no more.’ Our guys did that.”
He should be concerned about the level of competition.
The 1987 Kings finished with 29 wins and the West’s 10-seed. These Jazz are trending similarly — Friday marked their 14th loss in 22 games. And that’s where the caution sign flashes for New York.
The Knicks have faced adversity exactly once since their pre-Thanksgiving meltdown in Orlando. Their record is padded, as it should be, with the bones of teams headed toward lottery night. Their wins entering Sunday came against opponents with a combined 143–201 record; the seven teams who beat them sit at 89–72.
The remaining holiday stretch features contenders. The training wheels come off. But Brown won’t apologize for beating who’s in front of them.
“Teams are talented,” he said. “[Utah’s] got a lot of young guys… but they’re a talented team.”
So are the Knicks — especially when they turn defense into a sprinting avalanche. And on Friday night, they reminded the league they can bury teams before the popcorn is warm. The question is whether or not they can do it against opponents worth their weight in the standings. If they can, the Knicks may find more common ground with those Showtime Lakers than the record books they stumbled into on Friday.
“I think we just played well. That’s about it,” said Hart. “I felt like we were putting the ball in the basket more than they were. And, you know… we were just having fun.
“We were playing our style.”
