First, note the starting time. It's 9 a.m. West Coast time. That's very early for Utah.

Now look at Utah's numbers. The Jazz are second-to-last in scoring at 93.7 points a game. There's a chance they get their best offensive player, Gordon Hayward, here for the first time this season. If that's the case, Hayward figures to be rusty.

The Jazz are tough defensively again ranking third in the NBA holding foes to 93.7 points per games and rate seventh in defensive field goal percentage.

The Knicks have just played the Bulls and Rockets, two of the most up-tempo teams in the NBA. Now they draw the half-court, defensive-minded Jazz. The Knicks failed to break 100 points in three of their five games, not reaching 90 points in two of those contests. It was only against the Bulls and Rockets that they had big scoring games.

New York is in transition mode with a new coach, new point guard and trying to pick up Phil Jackson's triangle offense with key new players. So the Knicks figure to have problems with Utah's tight defense while the Jazz are weak offensively and not helped by this rare starting time.