Knicks try for consecutive wins, host Utah

(SportsNetwork.com) - Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks aim for back-to- back wins for the first time in more than a month when they host the Utah Jazz Friday night at Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks ended a seven-game losing streak with Wednesday's 118-106 wire-to- wire victory over Kevin Love and the Minnesota Timberwolves in the finale of a three-game road trip. Anthony, the NBA's second-leading scorer with 28.1 points, recorded 33 on 14-of-27 shooting to go with five rebounds and five assists.

Anthony has been a beacon for New York and is averaging 32.5 ppg in his last 11 games. Amare Stoudemire and Raymond Felton had 18 points in the win, while Tyson Chandler ended with 15 and 14 rebounds. Chandler is posting an average of 15.4 boards and 10.7 points over the past nine games.

"We did a great job with the tempo, we pushed the ball and made easy shots," said Stoudemire. "And we also did a good job defensively."

New York made 52.2 percent for the game and won for the third time in the last 16 contests. It last prevailed in back-to-back games during a four-game winning streak from Jan. 24-30.

The Knicks, who last won on Feb. 19 at New Orleans, will visit Cleveland on Saturday.

Utah will resume a disappointing six-game trip (0-4) against the East and has lost to Cleveland, Indiana, Milwaukee and Washington. In Wednesday's 104-91 defeat at the hands of the Wizards, Alec Burks had 19 points to lead Utah's bench and Trey Burke netted 14.

Gordon Hayward and Enes Kanter scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Jazz, losers in seven of the last nine games. The Jazz are only 7-24 away from Salt Lake City and will close the trip Saturday in Philadelphia.

"They (Wizards) had 23 points off of 13 turnovers, which is a lot and they were bad turnovers," Utah coach Tyrone Corbin said.

Utah's bench outscored the Wizards' reserves 45-22.

The Jazz are winless in five straight road games and lost both meetings with New York last season. They were blown out 113-84 in the previous visit to MSG last March 9 and have dropped three straight and eight of nine games there.

New York is aiming for its fifth straight win overall in this series.