SALT LAKE CITY – Carmelo Anthony scored 34 points on 11-of-19 shooting, and the New York Knicks pulled away for a 92-83 victory over the Utah Jazz 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.
Gordon Hayward scored 18 points, Alec Burks added 17 off the bench and Derrick Favors chipped in 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Jazz (23-52), who lost for the 16th time in their last 18 contests.
New York shot 47 percent (33 of 70) from the field while holding Utah to just 39 percent (33 of 85).
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 defense to seize control.
The Jazz made just one basket over a 7 ½-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.
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 Favors for a layup to boost Utah's 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 Smith's fadeaway 3-pointer a second before halftime cut it to 49-48.
NOTES: New York improved to 7-10 on the season in the second game of back-to-back games. The Knicks also claimed the season series over the Jazz for the third straight season. . Anthony averaged 31.5 points against Utah this season. . Favors had his 23rd double-double of the season and the third in Utah's last four games. . Chandler fell a rebound shy of having his 11th straight game with 10 or more rebounds.
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