Bulls fall late to Knicks |
NEW YORK - At some point, you had to think the recent injuries for the Chicago Bulls (14-21) would start to get to them. To their credit, the team has played some of their best basketball over the past month, and it has come without one of their better players in Zach Lavine, who is slated to return on Friday or early next week.
However, it has been the recent injuries and everyday pains that have gotten to this team lately, and that was the case against the New York Knicks (19-15) Wednesday at the Madison Square Garden. Coming off a night where the Bulls were destroyed in every possible facet of the game, Chicago got off to a hot start and was looking to get back on track against the new-look Knicks. Even after trailing by two after one-quarter of play, you never felt like this team was out of it as they stormed back to take a four-point lead at the half. Then came a dreadful second half that saw the Bulls down by double digits in the third, only to pull within 93-91 in the fourth. That was when things went south for Chicago, as they scored nine points the rest of the way before falling 116-100. Many people said going into January that the overall month for Chicago is fairly light in terms of their strength of schedule, but you still need to play better than what they have the past two nights. Shooting less than 42% isn't ideal, which the Bulls have had issues with off and on this season. At least Demar DeRozan and Coby White can say they did what they needed to do, as they provided more than half of the Bulls points in the loss. DeRozan has quietly gone on one of his patented scoring rolls that the Bulls have seen the past two seasons and led the Bulls with 28 points on 10-13 shooting. White also shook off what has been a rocky shooting stretch for him by adding 26 points while connecting on 6-9 from distance. That comes from a guy who had 15 consecutive games with at least three made triples, so the ability to stretch the floor is there. While their overall production was everything the Bulls could ask for, the rest of their roster was next to non-existent, making it difficult to get into a consistent rhythm. Alex Caruso and Andre Drummond added 13-point efforts, but with Patrick Williams held to five points, they needed more from their starting five. The same can be said about the Bulls bench, as Ayo Dosunmu was responsible for seven of the bench's 15 points in the loss. Since trading away RJ Barrett, things appear to be trending in the right direction for the Knicks, as many felt he was a locker room cancer. In the process, OG Anunoby moves from Toronto to New York and thus gives the Knicks a new trio to lean on most nights. Two of those three guys went off in a big way and combined to score 76 points for the Knicks. Julius Randle and his 35 points led the way, as the Bulls had no answers for him. Randle was having his way inside and from the perimeter as he continued to show why he's one of the more overlooked players in the Eastern Conference. Joining him to lead the Knicks offensively was, of course, Jalen Brunson and his 31 points as those two continue to have great seasons. Brunson wasn't only scoring the basketball but also making things happen off the dribble by dishing out 13 assists for another double-double. Those assists helped set up several Knicks players as all five of the Knicks starters benefitted from that and landed in double figures. Anunoby picked up 11 points and eight boards, as did Donte DiVincenzo and his 11 points to give the Knicks much more balance. Isaiah Hartenstein is a name to get familiar with if you are a Bulls fan, as his name has been mentioned as a possible trade target should they pursue DeRozan or Lavine for the stretch run. Not much of an offensive threat, Hartenstein does many things well, and with 10 points and 20 rebounds, he would be just what this team needs. Chicago returns to the court Friday to face the Charlotte Hornets in what will be a home and home on Friday and Monday for both squads. On a side note, with his 16 rebounds, Drummond became the first Bull since Dennis Rodman in 1997 to average 16 or more rebounds over a five-game stretch. That is elite company to be linked with and it is only the beginning as he will continue to see minutes with Nikola Vucevic on the mend.
