The first day of the New Year started with some injury news and a bit of confusion for Tom Thibodeau’s squad. All-Star guard Jalen Brunson missed his first game of the season Wednesday due to a calf injury, which put Miles “Deuce” McBride in place to start. “Had some soreness,” the head coach said of Brunson. “We’ll see where he is tomorrow.” McBride, however, wasn’t seen on the floor during tip-off and the Knicks ruled him questionable minutes later due to left hamstring tightness. That pushed Cameron Payne into the starting lineup as the Knicks later ruled McBride out during the second quarter. “Same thing,” Thibodeau described McBride’s injury. “Had some tightness before the game when he was warming up. I haven’t talked to medical yet. We’ll see where he is tomorrow as well.” The injuries and confusion, however, didn’t stop the Knicks from a 119-103 victory to push their winning streak to nine games. It’s a New Year. But the same Knicks team. Wednesday’s win gives the Knicks a chance to push the streak to 10 games when they visit Oklahoma City on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns took charge centerstage on the Madison Square Garden floor: 31 points, 21 rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block. Some fans at home, however, missed out on another superb performance from Towns due to a carrier dispute that couldn’t get resolved before Wednesday’s win. Optimum subscribers were unable to watch the ninth-straight win as negotiations between Altice USA and James Dolan’s MSG Networks broke down due to a dispute over fees. With the issue unresolved as of Wednesday night, Optimum subscribers may miss out on a chance to witness a 10th straight victory against MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, former Knick Isaiah Hartenstein and the Thunder on Friday night. They were also unable to witness another triple-double by Josh Hart, who finished with 15 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists. It was the second consecutive game Hart recorded a triple-double. “Little more scoring-wise, little more passive making sure we got guys into position on offense,” said Hart, who also recorded 23 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists against the Wizards on Monday. “I might not need to look for scoring but make sure get guys in flow and rhythm.” The Knicks continued to show that Brunson isn’t needed to shoulder the offensive load to secure wins — even on a night he didn’t play. Albeit against a 7-25 Jazz squad, three Knicks scored at least 22 points: Towns, OG Anunoby (22 points) and Mikal Bridges (27 points). And the surprise starter — Payne — contributed eight points, nine assists, three steals and three rebounds in the win. Not bad considering he found out about the lineup change moments before tip-off. “When I was getting ready to do my little warmups,” Payne said when asked when he found out about the start. “Probably right before they called the lineups. Halfway thought they weren’t going to call my name — I thought they were going to call Deuce — and I was going to have to run out there. Honestly. That’s how close it was.” Added Josh Hart: “Great job. He’s a vet. He always stays ready, every game he wants more responsibility, more minutes. Thats what we want from him. Games like this, we’re not worried when JB goes down, we’re good, CP is gonna give us great energy, take good shots, get guys the ball and that’s what we need.” No Brunson and McBride meant more minutes for Tyler Kolek and Landry Shamet, who combined for 23 minutes played. Kolek, who dropped 36 points and 11 assists in 40 minutes played in a Westchester Knicks overtime win hours prior, was the first guard off the bench for Thibodeau in Wednesday’s win. His legs, though, felt fine despite the heavy workload. “It was good,” Kolek said. “Had a few hours in between, normatechs. Just tried to do what I could to recover and just be ready to go.” The Marquette product finished with two points and four assists while Shamet recorded two points and a steal. On Utah’s side, potential trade deadline targets enjoyed good games for themselves. Jordan Clarkson scored a team-high 25 points on 8-of-19 shooting. Collin Sexton made 10 of his 13 field goal attempts for 25 points in the loss.