The Knicks are back to embarrassing.
After a brief spell of prosperity, they sent a reminder this week that they're a bad basketball team and finished winless on a four-game road trip.
Wednesday night's 128-104 blowout was the ugly capper, a Utah Jazz offensive binge with no defensive resistance from New York. It was extra painful for Knicks fans to watch Emmanuel Mudiay, largely a disappointment in his 1.5 seasons with the Knicks, in much better shape and scoring 20 points in just 26 minutes against his former team.
In many ways, it was predictable. Not Mudiay's big night, but the blowout defeat. The Knicks (10-28) were without their two best players and leading scorers _ Marcus Morris and Julius Randle _ for different reasons. Morris sat his second straight (both blowout defeats) because of a sore neck and Randle was away for a family issue.
They were lucky to have Bobby Portis available. A night earlier, the power forward was ejected after winding up and clotheslining the Lakers' Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on a drive. Portis was fined $25,000 on Wednesday but avoided suspension.
Portis apologized and said he was just going after the ball.
But then on Thursday in Utah, he was hit with a Flagrant 1 for doing the exact same thing to a Utah player in the third quarter. It was less egregious and did not warrant an ejection, but also made sure the Knicks still had the league's most flagrant fouls this season.
The Jazz (25-12) led by as many as 30 and ran away at the start of the second half when the Knicks missed eight consecutive field goals. Utah shot 54.4 percent. Center Rudy Gobert dominated with 16 points and 16 boards. Donovan Mitchell only played 25 minutes because victory wasn't in doubt for most of the second half.
For the Knicks, Kevin Knox continued to perplex and seems to have lost confidence. He collected just six points in 29 minutes on 2-of-10 shooting. Portis missed 12 of his 17 shots. The starting lineup was destroyed by the Jazz, epitomized by the Knicks being outscored by 33 points with point guard Elfrid Payton on the floor.
The Knicks next have two consecutive home games against the Pelicans on Friday and the Heat on Sunday.
