Trey Burke Busts Slump In MSG With Game-Winner

Nov 14, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

How many teams can say they’ve beaten two of the NBA’s premiere players in their first 10 games of the 2014-15 season? Precisely one. First Gordon Hayward beats LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on a last second game-winner, now Trey Burke gets the best of Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks at the buzzer, busting his slump in MSG.

After going 16-30 from three in preseason Trey Burke has been in an awful regular season shooting slump, putting up only 38% field goals overall from the floor and a miserable .307 from three on 46 attempts coming into the heart of an Eastern Conference roadie in New York in Madison Square Garden.

Burke had a chance to beat the Atlanta Hawks at the buzzer just two nights before, but winged a wild one-handed shot off the side of the standard, not usual for the Utah Jazz’s most clutch player from last season, as chronicled here. Hate to say we told you so and all, but we did.

"”Trey is the guy that’s been known for hitting big shots,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. ”I think he’s one of those guys that gets excited when he gets the ball and Gordon’s been like that, too.”-Quin Snyder, postgame"

He certainly redeemed himself tonight, restoring his rep as Ice Trey while dropping eight more assists bringing his three-game total to 27 over the road trip, in the process netting a second double-double in a row with 13 points on 5-9 shooting and 3-5 from three in MSG. Helluva way to bust a slump, boss.

Quin Snyder became only the second Utah Jazz head coach to win his first trip to MSG, Tom Nissalke being the only other, in 1979-80, the Jazz’s inaugural season in Utah after moving from New Orleans. Nissalke would go 1-1 for his career as Jazz coach in the Big Apple.

Jerry Sloan started his career as a head coach in Chicago, going 0-2 in MSG, then later started his Utah Jazz career in New York 0-5, finishing 11-16 all-time as an NBA head coach at “The Cube.”

Sloan’s predecessor Frank Layden started 0-4, finishing 1-7 in MSG, while Sloan’s heir Tyrone Corbin would also start his head coaching career 0-4 in MSG, never winning there before Snyder took over duties in Utah for him in 2014-15.

Carmelo Anthony had 46 points on 26 shots and 16 trips to the free throw line. Pablo Prigioni was the only other Knick in double figures with 13, making tonight reminiscent of the Sloan style of coaching where he’d let a superstar go off, making the rest of the opposing team beat you, knowing it to be a rare occasion that they would be able to.

Some to-do was made of Enes Kanter playing only 12 minutes, but frankly, Derek Fisher played small ball all night making for a poor matchup with the big Turk.

Joe Ingles has become Quin Snyder’s go-to inbounds play man at the end of games. Every time. Hard to argue with the way the Jazz have been finishing close games.

Gordon Hayward  continues to put up All-Star numbers and performances, even if the likelihood of reaching the game this season is a stretch.

As good as he’s been — 33 points on 18 shots, three rebounds, six assists and four steals tonight in MSG, and 9-10 free throws — there just isn’t a lot of room to oust a West mainstay at this point. It will take an injury to get him in this year, most likely. But if he keeps it up, it will be almost impossible to ignore him at the event considered a career hallmark among NBA’ers.

Once again the quiet contributor, Derrick Favors made multiple plays down the stretch including being the unlucky guy on Carmelo Anthony who made the game-tying three that Burke had to beat. Favors fouled LeBron James on a similar defensive switch in the recent game that Hayward hit his monster shot to win in.

Favors had 21 points and 12 rebounds, along with two assists and three blocks, posting his fourth double-double of the young NBA season.