SALT LAKE CITY — The Knicks were on “The Road to Zion’’ — literally — Saturday night.
They “competed’’ against the Jazz in the state which houses world-renowned Zion National Park as they zero in fast on capturing the NBA’s best lottery odds for the chance to select Duke man-child Zion Williamson No. 1 in the draft.
Certainly they looked like the NBA’s worst team Saturday at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
In their most epically humiliating performance in a season rife with defeats, the Knicks were a mess. They allowed Utah to score 70 points in the paint. They fell behind by 40 points late in the first half. And in the end, they were bombarded 129-97 by the Jazz in their final game of 2018.
Good riddance.
“It just sucks that [the year] had to end that way,” Tim Hardaway Jr. said.
“[The Jazz] came out with force,” Knicks coach David Fizdale said. “We came out dead. We had no legs, no life, no nothing, couldn’t make shots, couldn’t get stops. It was a total avalanche.”
Fizdale said assistant coaches Keith Smart and Kaleb Canales roared at the players during the intermission as they trailed 71-34. The Knicks cut the deficit to 23 points by late in the third quarter before falling back by as many as 46 late in the fourth.
Asked if it was the angriest he has been in the locker room during halftime, Fizdale said: “No, my asisstants took care of that today. They went off on them pretty good and got after them. Through trust, they had the right to go off on them and they responded.’’
The Cavaliers lost Saturday night to the Hawks, so the Knicks still own just the second-worst record in the NBA at 9-28 (tied with the Suns) after losing 12 of their past 13 games and seven straight.
They are one game ahead of Cleveland (8-29) and have lost the first two of their current six-game death march, with the rocky road continuing to the Rocky Mountains where they face the Nuggets on Tuesday.
Having Luke Kornet start over Enes Kanter at center became a complete disaster as the Jazz (18-19) threw lobs to the rim for the athletic center Rudy Gobert, who scored three straight baskets at the outset and had 24 points by intermission on 10 of 11 makes. Gobert barely played in the garbage-time second half and finished with 25 points and 16 rebounds in 25 minutes.
By contrast, the demoted Kanter went scoreless (0-for-6) and was beside himself in the locker room, questioning his new role and the team’s commitment to winning, saying it’s “too early in the season to shut me down.’’
Kanter, booed as usual at his former workplace, said he hadn’t gone scoreless in a game since his third season in Utah.
“It’s embarrassing, man,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if we’re on the road or home. We’re down by 40, 50. It’s very embarrassing. … The first half was probably the worst half of my career for the team. You can’t fall apart [like that].”
For the Jazz, Donovan Mitchell, the runner-up for last season’s Rookie of the Year who was passed up by the Knicks in the 2017 draft, was a ball of hustle and finished with 15 points, five rebounds and three assists in 27 minutes. Kyle Korver was unstoppable from 3-point range (15 points, 5 of 8 from downtown). Dante Exum put up 13 points and 13 assists — many of them lobs to the iron.
It was a debacle as the Knicks fell behind early by scores of 41-17, 57-24, 67-28 and 71-31.
“It was that length,’’ Fizdale said. “And those guys get up vertical. They do a great job challenging shots at the rim.’’
A halftime buzzer-beater by Hardaway allowed the Knicks to creep within 37 points, 71-34, at intermission. It looked less like the altitude and more like a club finally losing its youthful vigor as it was outhustled at every turn.
This was the game on the trip the Knicks had the best chance of winning with the Jazz surprisingly under .500 and starting point guard Ricky Rubio injured. Not a chance.
The Knicks his just 7 of 27 shots by late in the first quarter and were at 11 of 41 (26.8 percent) by halftime, with 10 turnovers. No matter what Fizdale tried, it didn’t work.
After sitting for three straight games, Mario Hezonja entered late in the first and proceeded to commit two straight turnovers. Kevin Knox had his second poor game after a fine December. He was minus-37 in 19 minutes of the first half. Knox finished 4 of 12 for 12 points.
Fellow rookie Allonzo Trier couldn’t get out of his own way in the half, going 0-for-3 with two turnovers, and finishing 1-for-8 for two points.
After the Knicks trimmed the deficit to 23 late in the third, the Jazz soon got it back to 30, then 40 again. With frustration mounting in the final seconds of the third, Hardaway literally stopped playing. He got stripped and started arguing with the officials for several seconds as the Jazz went in on a 2-on-0 fastbreak ending with a Royce O’Neale breakaway.
Before the game, Utah’s standout coach, Quin Snyder, was asked if the Knicks were better than their record. He wouldn’t bite.
“One of the biggest dangers of coach is trying to figure out what’s going on with other people’s teams,’’ Snyder said. “I got my hands full. I wouldn’t want to analyze someone else and where they are.’’
The Knicks are approaching rock bottom. And, no, they are what the record says they are.