Utah Jazz at New York Knicks (12/18/2006)

[ESPNTED]

12/18 7:30 PM ET W/L ATS H A O/U
Utah 18-6 14-10-0 11-2 7-4 14-10
New York 9-17 11-15-0 4-10 5-7 14-12

Odds and Trends
All Odds Opening Bodog Sportsbook Pinnacle WSEX 5Dimes
No Odds Available For This Matchup

Recent Trends
Utah:

* Over is 20-7 in UTA last 27 vs. Eastern Conference.
* Over is 7-3 in UTA last 10 vs. NBA Atlantic.
* Over is 35-16-1 in UTA last 52 road games.

New York:

* NY are 5-16 ATS in their last 21 Mon. games.
* NY are 4-12 ATS in their last 16 home games.
* Over is 11-4 in NY last 15 vs. NBA Northwest.

Head to Head:

* Road team is 8-2 ATS in the last 10 meetings.


Quickchart Matchup
Utah Off vs.
New York Def New York Off vs.
Utah Def
102.8 Pts F
101.8 Pts A
48.5 FG%
45.7 FG%
44.0 Reb.
39.7 Reb. 98.7 Pts F
98.3 Pts A
45.7 FG%
44.0 FG%
39.7 Reb.
35.7 Reb.

Records
ATS Records | In Depth
Overall Home Away
UTA
NY 14-10-0
11-15-0 7-6-0
4-10-0 7-4-0
7-5-0

Over/Under Records | In Depth
Overall Home Away
UTA
NY 14-10
14-12 6-7
7-7 8-3
7-5

Statistics (Click tabs to switch between tables)
Overall Home/Away Last 5 Days Rest Power Numbers

More Records:
Last 5 | After Win | After Loss | vs. Scoring


More Stats:
< 10 Point Fav. | > 10 Point Fav. | < 10 Point Dog | > 10 Point Dog

Injuries
Utah Injuries
Player Pos Injury Status
No injuries to report.
New York Injuries
Player Pos Injury Status
Quentin Richardson F Back day-to-day
Steve Francis G Knee day-to-day

Recent Meetings

Date Home Away Line ATS
12/23/2005 NY 98 UTA 90 -4.5/184 NY/O
11/14/2005 UTA 62 NY 73 -4.5/173 NY/U
2/7/2005 UTA 99 NY 102 -8/195 NY/O
12/19/2004 NY 94 UTA 93 -7/194 UTA/U
2/20/2004 NY 78 UTA 92 -7.5/174 UTA/U
12/10/2003 UTA 95 NY 73 -8/175 UTA/U
4/4/2003 UTA 92 NY 94 -6.5/189.5 NY/U
11/12/2002 NY 87 UTA 108 4/181 UTA/O
3/8/2002 UTA 79 NY 85 -10/190 NY/U
2/17/2002 NY 89 UTA 92 2/183.5 UTA/U

Next 5 and Last 10 Games
Utah: Next 5 and Last 10 Games
Date vs. Score Line ATS Mar Date Where
12/26/2006 LAC 105-86 (W) -2.5/190 WO 16.5 12/13/2006 LAC
12/23/2006 @ MEM 84-90 (L) 6.5/181.5 WU 0.5 3/19/2006 MEM
12/22/2006 @ CHAR 104-89 (W) 5/189.5 WO 20.0 3/1/2006 UTA
12/20/2006 @ ATL 111-101 (W) -1/191.5 WO 9.0 3/17/2006 ATL
12/18/2006 @ NY 90-98 (L) 4.5/184 LO -3.5 12/23/2005 NY
Date vs. Score Line ATS Mar UTA FG Opp FG Reb
12/17/2006 @ IND 104-94 (W) 1.5/195.5 WO 11.5 37/80 27/74 40-40
12/15/2006 SAC 97-98 (L) -7.5/203 LU -8.5 34/73 32/79 44-40
12/13/2006 @ LAC 105-86 (W) -2.5/190 WO 16.5 41/80 27/67 38-35
12/11/2006 DAL 101-79 (W) -1.5/194 WU 20.5 38/79 26/69 42-26
12/8/2006 @ MIN 103-110 (L) -1/191 LO -8.0 38/77 42/82 40-36
12/4/2006 MIL 101-88 (W) -7/207.5 WU 6.0 39/77 32/84 48-34
12/2/2006 SEA 109-107 (W) -8.5/203 LO -6.5 41/80 33/71 40-31
11/30/2006 @ LAL 102-132 (L) 4.5/199 LO -25.5 39/83 45/75 34-43
11/29/2006 SA 83-75 (W) 1/190.5 WU 9.0 30/73 29/73 50-34
11/27/2006 ORL 75-88 (L) -6.5/197.5 LU -19.5 29/68 30/76 36-45

New York: Next 5 and Last 10 Games
Date vs. Score Line ATS Mar Date Where
12/31/2006 @ LAC 85-82 (W) -7/198.5 LU -4.0 2/7/2006 NY
12/29/2006 @ PHO 133-140 (L) -6/209 LO -13.0 1/2/2006 NY
12/22/2006 CHI 85-102 (L) 7/198.5 LU -10.0 11/28/2006 CHI
12/20/2006 CHAR 98-91 (W) 2/201 WU 9.0 4/17/2006 NY
12/18/2006 UTA 90-98 (L) 4.5/184 LO -3.5 12/23/2005 NY
Date vs. Score Line ATS Mar NY FG Opp FG Reb
12/16/2006 DEN 100-123 (L) 4.5/214 LO -18.5 41/95 45/79 41-39
12/15/2006 @ IND 96-112 (L) 7/195 LO -9.0 32/72 38/80 39-42
12/13/2006 ATL 94-82 (W) -7/195.5 WU 5.0 33/74 26/69 48-32
12/11/2006 BOS 90-97 (L) -2.5/206 LU -9.5 35/90 37/77 53-41
12/9/2006 MIL 115-107 (W) -2.5/207.5 WO 5.5 50/89 46/89 46-35
12/6/2006 WAS 102-113 (L) 1/206 LO -10.0 36/81 41/84 47-34
12/4/2006 MEM 98-90 (W) -2/194.5 WU 6.0 36/64 33/76 44-32
12/2/2006 TOR 100-103 (L) -3/204.5 LU -6.0 39/87 32/80 44-40
12/1/2006 @ DET 100-108 (L) 7/199.5 LO -1.0 36/83 38/79 48-38
11/29/2006 @ CLE 101-98 (W) 9.5/195.5 WO 12.5 37/70 38/84 36-38

 

[shawn555]

Suspensions total 47 games from Knicks-Nuggets fight
ESPN.com news services


NEW YORK -- NBA scoring leader Carmelo Anthony was suspended for 15 games Monday -- the sixth longest suspension in league history for an on-court incident -- and six other players were penalized as commissioner David Stern came down hard on both teams after the Nuggets and Knicks brawled at Madison Square Garden.



Nate Robinson and J.R. Smith each got 10 games, and four other players also were suspended. Stern fined each organization $500,000. But there was no separate penalty for Knicks coach Isiah Thomas, which drew the ire of Denver coach George Karl. It was Thomas who had warned Anthony not to go into the lane before the mayhem started Saturday night.

It was the NBA's scariest scene since the brawl between Pacers players and Pistons fans two years ago. The league is still recovering from that episode, and Stern made it clear the players must learn to control themselves.

"We're going to go after the players who aren't able to stop," he said during a conference call. "We have set up the goal of eliminating fighting from our game. We haven't eliminated it completely."
Nuggets, Knicks Suspensions
DENVER
Player Games
Carmelo Anthony 15
Eligible to return: Jan. 20 at Houston
J.R. Smith 10
Eligible to return: Jan. 8 vs. Milwaukee
Nene 1
Eligible to return: Dec. 20 vs. Phoenix
NEW YORK
Player Games
Nate Robinson 10
Eligible to return: Jan. 10 vs. Phila.
Mardy Collins 6
Eligible to return: Dec. 31 at Clippers
Jared Jeffries 4
Eligible to return: Dec. 27 vs. Detroit
Jerome James 1
Eligible to return: Dec. 20 vs. Charlotte


Mardy Collins, whose hard foul on Smith sparked the fighting, was suspended six games and Knicks teammate Jared Jeffries will miss four. Also, the Knicks' Jerome James and Denver's Nene were both penalized one game for leaving the bench area during the chaos.


Per the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement, Anthony can attempt to get his suspension lessened through arbitration because it is longer than 12 games. So far, Anthony hasn't announced whether he will try to do this. Regardless, his suspension begins immediately, starting with Monday night's home game with the Wizards.

There is precedent for reducing suspensions. After the Pacers-Pistons brawl, an arbitrator lessened Jermaine O'Neal's suspension from 25 to 15 games.



Ten players were ejected after Saturday night's fight, which started with 1:15 left in Denver's 123-100 victory. The Knicks will be without Robinson, Collins, Jeffries and James for Monday's home game against Utah.

"I was very disappointed," Stern said. "Clearly, we're not getting through or players in certain circumstances just don't want to be restrained. I would suggest that those players will not have long careers in the NBA."

Stern was especially troubled by the fight between Robinson and Smith that spilled into the stands.

"My concern is actually for the safety of the players and the fans, and when things get out of hand you cannot predict or project where they're going to go," Stern said. "There were certain players who weren't going to allow themselves to be calmed."

There was speculation Thomas would be penalized for his comments to Anthony. Stern acknowledged hearing about it, but said he relied only on "definitive information" when handing out punishments.

But he was clearly annoyed by remarks from Thomas and the Knicks after the game that the problems were caused by the Nuggets still having four starters on the floor late in a blowout. And the fine showed he wants teams to be serious in helping him clean up the game.

"It's a more general message that I'm going to start holding our teams accountable," he said.

In Denver, Karl was irate with Thomas.

Thomas said Monday that Karl put his players in danger by leaving them on the floor too long. Karl accused Thomas of a "premeditated" act, underscoring his disgust with the New York coach with expletives.

"It was directed by Isiah," he said during a shootaround. "I think his actions after the game were despicable. He made a bad situation worse. I'll swear on my children's life that I never thought about running up the score. I wanted to get a big win on the road."

"My team has had trouble holding leads at the end of games," he added. "I didn't want the score to get under 10 points because if it would've gotten under 10 points it would've had a negative feeling on my team."

Collins prevented Smith from an easy basket by grabbing him by the neck and taking him to the floor. Smith rose and immediately started jawing with Collins, and Robinson jumped in to pull Smith away. Anthony shoved Robinson away, and Robinson and Smith then tumbled into the front row while fighting.

Just as things appeared to be calming down, Anthony threw a hard punch that floored Collins, and Jeffries sprinted from the baseline toward halfcourt in an effort to get at Anthony, but was tackled by a Denver player.

By the time security had finally contained Smith, they were nearly at the opposite end of the court from where the fighting started.

Stern also made it clear he was annoyed by comments from Thomas and the Knicks that the problems were caused by the Nuggets still having four starters on the floor late in a blowout. The commissioner said the only response is to say "nothing, or B, this is not something of which we can be proud or condone. That's not what we're about and that's not the example that we're setting."

Information from The Associated Press and ESPN.com's Marc Stein was used in this report.