New York — Official postgame quotes following the Jazz's 99-88 loss to the Knicks on Monday at Madison Square Garden.

Madison Square Garden
New York Knickerbockers vs. Utah Jazz
February 6, 2012

Head Coach Tyrone Corbin
On tonight’s game:
You have to give them credit. They came out with a lot of enthusiasm right from the jump ball. I thought we were a little flat in the first half, and we tried to pick it up in the third and cut it to two points. In the fourth quarter we got away from what we were doing. We can’t afford to come out and think we can turn it off and on. We have to come out ready to go right from the beginning and play a 48 minute game. We’re still developing and we’re not good enough at this point to think we can turn it off and on when we want to.”

More on tonight’s game:
These guys can play, and they have pride in it. When they get an opportunity to play, they make the most of their minutes and they stuck it to us. You talk about that Lin (Jeremy Lin) kid…guys are feeding off him. They played a better game than we did.”

On Jeremy Lin:
He was splitting the pick-and-rolls which we don’t allow guys to do. On a normal basis we don’t allow as much as we did tonight…He was just able to keep the ball in his hands and get down the lane and make plays for himself and his teammates.”

On learning from this game:
That’s what we talked about. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing or where we’re playing, we have to come out with a certain kind of attitude right from the beginning. We have to play the high level, especially on the defense on the floor on the road in order to have a chance to be successful and we didn’t demonstrate that.”

Devin Harris
On Jeremy Lin:
He reads pick-rolls- very well. In the beginning of the game he was getting guys involved and we kind of spread out and the he got to the rim and (started attacking the rim). They played in the paint all night long.”

On tonight’s loss:
“It was a let down, we felt this was a game we could have won and energy wise we just weren’t there. Defensively, we had some lapses and it was unacceptable.”

On the Knicks without Carmelo Anthony & Amar’e Stoudemire:
“They moved the ball a lot, they got some open looks. Steve (Novak) came in and made shots, Jeremy (Lin) got in the paint and created stuff for himself and other teammates – they had a lot of confidence.”

More on tonight’s game:
They had guys that came in and stepped up. They had a couple guys that came off the bench and played well for them.”

Al Jefferson
On tonight’s game:
“We dug ourselves in a deep hole. We can’t do that no matter who’s on the floor. We are all professionals so it doesn’t matter that they didn’t have their star players they are still a team that you can’t take for granted. We dug ourselves in a deep hole and they got momentum.”

Head Coach Mike D’Antoni
On tonight’s game:
“I felt first and foremost, how hard we played and the defense we played, gave us a chance. Then under Jeremy’s direction, he was able to set up guys, feed the shots and play the way we like to play.”

On Jeremy Lin:
“Jeremy kind of settles everything and we can build on that. He does give us a semblance of a team that can move the ball and get shots. We play so well defensively you can get encouraged on the offensive end.”

More on Jeremy Lin:
“He has an attacking mentality, he can get in the paint and he is a point guard. I think he will get better. He will definitely get better. He has an innate ability to see guys. You can’t explain the game all of the time and he doesn’t need explaining. He knows the game.”

Jeremy Lin
On tonight’s game:
Basketball is fun when you play on a team that wants to work together, work through tough times and have victories like this one. This win was ugly but we made plays. This team has will.”

On the fans at home:
“That is huge I think. That is what home court advantage is all about…when you have the crowd behind us. The positive energy changes the game.”

On scoring more with Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire out:
“It is not really a conscious decision. To me, if the ball comes back to me, I am going to try to make a play.”

Tyson Chandler
On tonight’s game:
“It is incredible man. Total team effort. I felt like we all stepped up to the challenge. It was good to have guys step up.”

On Jeremy Lin:
“What Jeremy is doing is incredible. He is moving everyone to their natural position. We have a nice flow, a nice tempo and the offense is looking good.”

More on tonight’s game:
We were undermanned but everybody fought. We held our ground. We were fast, we switched, we trapped. We stepped up to the challenge.”

More on Jeremy Lin:
He is smart. He plays with a nice pace out there. We have been saying consistently that he has talent in practice but we didn’t know if it would translate in the game. He is obviously showing all of us that he can. He doesn’t get rattled out there. He plays with a different confidence than what I have seen from young players like that. He understands what the coach wants and he does it out there.”

The Salt Lake Tribune

Twitter: @tribjazz