Knicks jump out to a 23-0 lead over the Jazz, largest in the NBA since detailed play-by-play began

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Knicks jumped on the Utah Jazz for a 23-0 lead Friday night, the largest game-opening run in the NBA since the league began keeping detailed play-by-play for all four quarters.

The Knicks pitched a shutout for half the first quarter and led by 28 by the time it was over.

Karl-Anthony Towns opened the scoring with a 3-pointer and when Jalen Brunson made one midway through the period, the Knicks had scored the first 23 points.

That was the most one team had before the other scored since the NBA began keeping detailed play-by-play for the entire game in 1997.

“You’re not really thinking about it,” Brunson said. “You’re just going out there and executing and that’s what it turned out to be.”

The Jazz missed their first 12 shots before Keyonte George finally got them on the scoreboard when he converted a three-point play with 5:27 remaining in the quarter.

Deuce McBride, who went back to his reserve role with OG Anunoby returning from a nine-game absence with a strained left hamstring, hit a 3-pointer during the run. He said he was aware of how crooked the numbers were above him.

“I definitely do pay attention to the scoreboard,” said McBride, who made seven 3-pointers and scored 22 points. “As a point guard, always looking up. But those starters got us rocking, so it was easy to do my job.”

It was 41-13 after one quarter, with the 28-point lead after one quarter also the Knicks' biggest in the play-by-play era. Utah shot 4 for 23 (17.4%).

“I think we were getting pretty good looks at the start of the game and we just couldn't make a shot,” Utah's Lauri Markkanen said. “Against a good team like this it’s hard to climb back up.”

The Knicks went on to win 146-112, their highest-scoring game of the season.

The Jazz were also on the wrong end of the other 28-point deficit after one quarter in the NBA this season. Minnesota led 43-15 in its eventual 137-97 victory over Utah on Nov. 7.

The Jazz were playing on the second night of a strange cross-country trip, consisting solely of a back-to-back set in New York. They rallied to beat Brooklyn on Thursday with a 42-point fourth quarter.

Coach Will Hardy acknowledged that “10 hours on a plane to play two games seems like a lot,” but said that all teams face difficult portions of their schedule.

“I thought energy level was fine and we can execute better on both ends of the floor,” Markkanen said. “But obviously shooting that percentage doesn't help you.”

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New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) and teammate Josh Hart, right, reach up for the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby (8) is fouled by Utah Jazz defenders during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

New York Knicks guard Miles McBride reacts after scoring a 3-point basket during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, left, shoots over Utah Jazz defenders during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson reacts after making a three-point basket during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns pulls down an offensive rebound during the second half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets in Charlotte, N.C., Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

BANGKOK (AP) — The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil briefly topped $100 a barrel early Thursday, just days after it spiked near $120 in the latest jolts to financial markets and the global economy as a whole.

Oil prices initially shot more than 9% higher as supply concerns worsened with Iranian attacks on commercial shipping around the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. campaign of airstrikes in Iran is now in its 13th day.

U.S. benchmark crude oil jumped 4.5% to about $91 a barrel. Brent, the international standard, was trading 5.3% higher at about $97 per barrel.

Iran has escalated its attacks aimed at generating enough global economic pain to pressure the United States and Israel to end the war. But there was no sign the conflict was subsiding.

Iran has targeted oil fields and refineries in Gulf Arab nations and effectively stopped cargo traffic through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of all traded oil passes.

In response, the International Energy Agency agreed Wednesday to release 400 million barrels of oil, the largest volume of emergency oil reserves in its history, in a bid to counter the war’s effects on energy markets. The U.S. planned to release 172 million barrels of oil next week from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve to combat steep prices.

The IEA’s announcement came a day after energy ministers from the Group of Seven — the leading industrialized nations of Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, Germany and Britain — met in Paris to look at ways to bring down prices.

But the continued strife and uncertainty have fueled speculation prices could push still higher, and that pulled shares lower.

The future for the S&P 500 lost 0.4% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.5% lower.

Germany's DAX lost 0.4% to 23,533.60, while the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.7% to 7,982.64. Britain's FTSE 100 sank 0.7% to 10,285.91.

During Asian trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 1% to 54,452.96. In South Korea, the Kospi lost 0.5% to 5,583.25, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gave up 0.7% to 25,716.76.

The Shanghai Composite index shed 0.1% to 4,129.10 and in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.3% to 8,629.00.

On Wednesday, U.S. stocks were little changed as the S&P 500 edged 0.1% lower for a second day of modest moves following a wild stretch caused by the war with Iran. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6%, to its lowest level this year, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.1%.

Since the start of the war, sharp moves for oil prices have triggered swings up and down for financial markets worldwide, sometimes by the hour. Oil prices briefly spiked to their highest levels since 2022 this week because of the possibility that production in the Middle East could be blocked for a long time, which in turn raised worries about a surge of debilitating inflation for the global economy.

In a report, Oxford Economics said “the swings in Brent crude oil prices over the past several days are eye-catching and odds are volatility will remain because of the absence of a timeline for when the conflict will de-escalate and when the Strait of Hormuz, which is effectively closed, will see traffic begin to recover.”

The level of volatility suggests that depending on news developments, oil prices could spike as high as $140 per barrel, it said.

A report released Wednesday showed U.S. consumers paid prices for groceries, gasoline and other costs of living that were 2.4% higher in February than a year earlier.

That's the same level as the month before and better than the 2.5% that economists expected, but it remains above the Federal Reserve's 2% target and doesn’t include the spike in gasoline prices this month due to the war.

High inflation combined with a stagnating economy would create a worst-case scenario called “stagflation” that the Federal Reserve has no good tools to fix. Stagflation fears are rising not just because of higher oil prices but also because of weakness in hiring by U.S. employers.

In other dealings early Thursday, the dollar fell to 158.84 Japanese yen from 158.95 yen. The euro fell to $1.1553 from $1.1566.

Gas prices are displayed at a station Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Evanston Ill. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Pedestrians mill about outside the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The New York Stock Exchange is seen in New York, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)