SALT LAKE CITY -- Momentum on defence is a powerful thing. Replica Soccer Jerseys . Force an opponent into a dry spell and a team can seize an opportunity to win big games. Thats the message the New York Knicks have been receiving in the locker room. Judging by what they did to the Utah Jazz, it appears they are getting the message. Carmelo Anthony scored 34 points on 11-of-19 shooting, and the Knicks pulled away for a 92-83 victory on Monday night that kept them one game back of the final Eastern Conference playoff berth. Tyson Chandler added 15 points and nine rebounds, while J.R. Smith scored 13 points and Raymond Felton chipped in 12 points and six assists to help New York (32-43) finish 3-2 on its western trip. Anthony knew it would be tough for the Knicks to pull it out in a traditionally tough road environment. "Any time you play against Utah on their home court, it is always going to be a grind out there," Anthony said. "Ive been playing them for years. Coming in and out here, a lot of battles and a lot of scars. They are always going to play tough." It wasnt just Anthony willing his team to victory. The Knicks made a collective effort to clamp down on the perimeter in the second half and keep Utah from shooting its way back into the game. New York shot 47 per cent (33 of 70) from the field while holding Utah to just 39 per cent (33 of 85). "We really got into them with our perimeter play," Chandler said. "The guys did an excellent job tonight of closing off the dribble. Even when we did get beat, we would kind of stand on their hip and funnel them into a tough situation, which allowed myself, Cole (Aldrich) and some other bigs to come over and help." Gordon Hayward scored 18 points, Alec Burks added 17 off the bench and Derrick Favours chipped in 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Jazz, who lost for the 16th time in their last 18 contests. Utah controlled the glass, outrebounding New York 50-38. The Jazz had a 19-7 edge in second-chance points and a 42-36 edge in points in the paint. It didnt matter in the end because Utah went ice cold in a crucial second-half stretch where it produced a single basket in 7 1/2 minutes. "We hit that little lull where we just cant score and that is the difference in the game," Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said. "It happened again tonight and we just have to keep fighting and get better." The Knicks scored on four straight possessions during a 15-2 run in the third quarter. Chandler punctuated the spurt with a layup, giving New York a 63-55 advantage. The Knicks hit 6-of-9 shots to open the quarter. The Jazz chipped away and tied it at 67 on Burks 3-pointer over Anthony, but the Knicks turned up the defence to seize control. The Jazz then made just one basket over a 7 1/2-minute stretch spanning the third and fourth quarters as the Knicks went on a 17-2 run. Anthony drained a pair of baskets to cap the run and give New York an 84-69 lead with 9:53 left in the fourth quarter. "Hes doing a lot of the little things," New York coach Mike Woodson said. "Hes done that all season. Hes been there when we needed him and now everybody is starting to chip in. It doesnt matter who plays. Theyre really taking advantage of the minutes theyre getting." New York jumped on the Jazz quick before quickly fading in the first quarter. The Knicks hit 7-of-9 shots to open the quarter and took a 15-10 lead when Smith drained a jumper and Chandler threw down an alley-oop dunk on consecutive possessions. The Jazz hit their first four baskets from 3-point range. The third one, from Trey Burke, put Utah in front for the first time at 18-15 and the fourth, from Hayward, put the Jazz back ahead 21-19 after Anthony made a pair of baskets to help New York reclaim the lead. Burks made back-to-back baskets and then fed Favours for a layup to boost Utahs lead to 40-30. New York trimmed the lead down at the free throw line when the Jazz got into foul trouble. The Knicks made 5-of-6 free throws before Smiths fadeaway 3-pointer a second before halftime cut it to 49-48. NOTES: Tim Hardaway Jr. left the game with a sprained right ankle. The Knicks said X-rays were negative. ... New York improved to 7-10 on the season in the second game of back-to-back games. ... Favours had his 23rd double-double of the season and the third in Utahs last four games. .... Chandler fell one rebound shy of having his 11th straight game with 10 or more rebounds. Soccer Jerseys Outlet . Simona Halep of Romania claimed the fifth title of her career by beating Samantha Stosur of Australia 7-6 (1), 6-2 in the womens final. After trading sets, Gasquet trailed 4-3 in the decider but broke back to 4-4 in a game that went to seven deuces with Kukushkin constantly failing on his forehand shots. Cheap Soccer Jerseys Authentic . Patrik Bartosak turned away 50-of-52 shots for the Rebels (28-26-4), who halted their losing streak at seven games. Trailing 2-1 after 40 minutes of play, Feser forced overtime with his second goal of the game at 5:35 of the third period. https://www.soccerjerseyschina.us/ . - Their offence is underperforming.As we head into the final 10 days of the Blue Jays stay in Florida, there a couple of areas of concern. For one, the Jays havent scored more than five runs in 13-straight games. Of course, in the spring, the full everyday line-up is rarely together for more than a couple of games a week and even then, only a few innings at a time. Ryan Goins, for all he is capable of doing with the glove at second base, is only hitting .168 at last glance. Brandon Morrow, counted on so heavily this season, has had trouble commanding his four-seam fastball and has seemingly been dropped to the number-five slot in the rotatioon. On the flip side of that, Drew Hutchison has looked so good that he has been elavated to the number-two position in the rotation between R.A Dickey and lefty Mark Buehrle. Closer Casey Janssen started camp with should soreness, but he apppears to be doing well, throwing on the side and assures everyone he will be ready for opening day, despite not having seen any game action yet. J.A. Happs sore back seems to be coming around and hes been slotted in again as the number-four starter. The Jays Grapefruit Circuit record is only 7-10, but those records are rarely an indication of how a team is going to do in the regular season. A year ago, the Jays were 16-17 in Florida, yet only won 74 games for the 2013 campaign. St. Louis won the National League pennant after going just 16-15 in the spring. The Boston Red Sox played .500 ball in the sunny south at 17-17 in its first year under skipper John Farrell and then went on to beat the Cardinals in the World Series. In 2012, their final year with Farrell as manager, the Blue Jays went a scorching 24-7 in Dunedin, tops in the Majors, with a run differential of plus-79, yet they went on to stumble to just 73 wins during the season. The Detroit Tigers, though, werent too far behind the Jays at 20-8 and they made it to the World Series against San Francisco. The Giants had been 18-15 that spring and went on to win their second Fall Classic in three years. In 2011, the Kansas City Royals went 25-7, while the Seattle Mariners were 22-11. The Royals still havent made the playoffs since winning the World Series in 1985 and the Mariners havent made the playoffs in a dozen years. The most exciting aspect of spring training is watching the breakout performances of young players, as is with the case of the Jays Drew Hutchison this spring. The rest of it is just about hoping your team can open the season healthy and can come close to living up to expectations. - Injuries could play a part in the American League West race and, in turn, the Wild Card. Two of the Oakland As starters are down with arm troubles. Jarrod Parker has forearm stiffness, which can be a precursor to ellow trouble, and the 25-year-old righty already had one Tommy John surgery in 2009. A.J. Griffin has elbow issues as well, and will find out shorttly if he needs Tommy John. Soccer Jerseys China. Meanwhile, Seattles number-two starter Hisashi Iwakuma is recovering from a sprained ligament in the middle finger of his pitching hand and is iffy, at best, for the start of season. The Ms top pitching prospect, Taijuan Walker, has bursitis in his shoulder and will likely start the season in the minors on rehab. - Some of the National Leagues better clubs havent escaped the injury bug, either. Atlanta Braves starter Kris Medlen likely needs his seond Tommy John and Brandon Beachy could also be on track for his second. The Braves are also keeping a close watch on Mike Minors shoulder. Arizona Diamondbacks ace lefty Patrick Corbin is currently seeking a second opinion on whether or not he needs Tommy John. If that isnt bad enough for the D-Backs, the recently signed Bronson Arroyo, an iron man with the Cincinnati Reds, is out indefinately with a disc problem in his back. The Philadelphia Phllies, of course, lost Roy Halladay to retirement. Now their number-one starter, Cole Hamels, is dealing with left shoulder fatigue. Though hes starting to feel better throwing on the side, there is no guarantee Hamels will be ready for Opening Day. - I guess you could call it a Panama "Root Canal" for the New York Yankees over the weekend. While on their special goodwill tour of Panama, the home of their now retired future Hall of Fame closer, Mariano Rivera, the Yanks were no-hit by the Miami Marlins. It happened on Saturday at a jam-packed Rod Carew Stadium. The Marlins Brad Hand started off by throwing five perfect innings and striking out six. Steve Cishek came in for a scorless sixth-inning before A.J. Ramos blanked the Yankees in the next two innings and then Arquimedes Caminero finished off the no-no in the ninth. - We talked about a lot of the pitching injuries, but this one appears to be both serious and mysterious. Tigers shortstop Jose Iglesias, a key pick-up from Boston in a three-way deal last season, has a severe case of shin splints in both legs caused by a problem with his feet. He could miss a large chunk of this season, maybe even the entire season, leaving Detroit without a legit number-one shortstop. - Its not exactly a Babe Ruth-ian differential, but the Baltimore Orioles Chris Davis had indeed a special season in the home run department last year. Daviss MLB-best 53 homers was nine better than American League runner-up Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers and 17 up on the National League co-leaders Pedro Alvarez of the Pittsburgh Pirates and the D-Backs Paul Goldschmidt at 36. The last time that happened was 2010, when the Blue Jays Jose Bautista slugged 54 homers, 15 more than AL runner-up Paul Konerko of the Chicago White Sox at 39 and 12 more than NL leader Albert Pujols, then of the Cardinals, at 42. ' ' ' |