NEW YORK _ David Fizdale ticked off the names one after another, listing the players who were out of action Wednesday night for the Knicks. There was Dennis Smith Jr., still sidelined with no return in sight from a back injury. Frank Ntilikina was still at least a few more days away from playing for the first time in nearly two months. Allonzo Trier came up lame with a calf strain and even Kadeem Allen was sick and sent home.
That left 10 active players, which as you might expect were not enough to keep up with the Jazz and might not have been enough talent even if you let all 10 play at once. The Knicks trailed by as many as 37 points _ which on the plus side was less of a deficit than they faced in the last game _ as they fell to Utah, 137-116, at Madison Square Garden.
More than just missing the full complement of players to try to squeeze a win out of a season already gone south, it was another night wasted for what Fizdale and the Knicks really want right now _ to see some growth from the young players who will be back on the roster. The common denominator among the four guards out of action is that they all could be back next season _ something you can't say for most of the roster.
