Through 18 NBA seasons, Jason Kidd has seen a lot in terms of team adversity, so as the hits keep coming and the injuries pile up for the Knicks, J-Kidd is asserting himself as a calming presence.

New York overcame the latest blow to their psyche on Saturday, when they learned that forward Amar’e Stoudemire, who had just begun to find his niche in the rotation, will miss the remainder of the regular season to have surgery on his right knee.

But the Knicks bounced back just hours later to dispatch the Utah Jazz in dominant fashion with a 113-84 victory. Though New York tallied 113 points, including 75 from a bench that stepped up to compensate for the absences of Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony, Jason was more thrilled with the work of the Knicks defensively.

"I was more impressed not with our offense but our defense," he said after the game.


With great defensive rotations and shot denials, the Knicks made scoring difficult on the Jazz on Saturday (Getty Images).

Indeed the New York D limited Utah to just 38.5 percent shooting and 30.8 percent from three, while all five of Utah’s starters were held under double figures.

J-Kidd entered with just over three minutes left in the quarter and the Knicks up eight. He made his impact felt shortly thereafter with a steal that led to a pair of free throws for No. 5. He added a rebound later in the quarter, one of five for Jason on the night, but the Knicks clung to just a four-point lead entering the second.

But it was in that second frame that the contest turned for good. Utah trimmed that lead to two just four minutes into the frame, but the Knicks followed with an 18-2 run to take control of the game. Over the course of that run, the New York defense forced Utah into eight missed shots.

Meanwhile, on the offensive end, the Knicks moved the ball freely and at one point knocked down four consecutive triples, three of which came off the hand of Steve Novak. Novak finished with 20 points and J.R. Smith led the team in scoring with 24 points off the bench on 10-18 shooting from the field.

"We’re sharing the ball," J-Kidd said. "We have a lot of guys who can put the ball in the basket, so when we move the ball like we did tonight and guys are scoring, it’s fun to watch."

The Knicks kept it up in the second half, refusing to let off the gas. The effort was particularly inspired on the defensive end, where they limited Utah to just 40 percent shooting from the field and 20 percent from beyond the arc. Afterward, J-Kidd noted the performance of his teammates through adversity was further proof of their resilience.

"When we heard about Amar’e, we were taken aback, but we still had a job to do and that’s to go out there and play," Kidd said. "Other guys have to step up and we did that. It helps because we did play without Amar’e before, but we would love to have Amar’e back

[later in the season]."


Amar’e Stoudemire’s injury will hurt, but players like Steve Novak are already steeping up for New York (Getty Images).

The injury to Stoudemire, who also missed time earlier this season, is just the latest in a string of them for New York. Anthony remains out with a knee injury and is one of seven Knicks contributors to miss at least 10 games due to injury this season. Only center Tyson Chandler and guard J.R. Smith have played in every game.

Despite the discouraging news, New York is fortunate enough to have complementary players that are willing to put egos aside for the betterment of the team. J-Kidd, who has battled injuries himself this season, believes that the Knicks are more than capable of playing together and having other guys step up as they head out on a tough road trip this week.

"The big thing now for us is to get Melo back coming up, and go out on this West Coast trip and try to come back with a positive record," Kidd said. "We’ve got a tough road trip here. We’ll be happy to get Melo back."

NEXT UP
The Knicks begin a five-game road trip in some familiar ground for Jason on Monday as they head to Oakland to take on the Golden State Warriors.

Jason is a native of the Bay Area, where and attended St. Joseph High School in Alameda, California, just a few miles from Oakland’s Oracle Arena. J-Kidd took St. Joseph to two straight state championships and accumulated a host of honors in his senior year, including the Naismith Award as nation’s top high school player and Parade and USA Today High School Player of the Year honors.

Monday’s tip off is set for 10:30 p.m. EST and can be seen locally on MSG.

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