The last time the Bulls (19-6) lost back-to-back contest came last season against Golden State and Portland on the 5th and 7th of last February, almost a calendar and that doesn’t include the gentlemen’s sweep suffered at the Hands of the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals.
After being run out of the gym in Philadelphia the night before, Chicago got back in the win column holding off the struggling New York Knicks (8-14) in Madison Square Garden, 105-102.
Derrick Rose split a trip to the line with five seconds remaining and Carmelo Anthony’s (26 points, 6 rebounds) 35-foot three-point attempt hit the right side of the backboard as time expired.
“Finally hit a damn free throw,” Rose told reporters after the game. “That’s what I’m happy about. Hit one, so hopefully next time, I hit both of them.”
Rose finished with a game-high 32 points to go along with 13 assists. Carlos Boozer and Kyle Korver contributed 16 points apiece and C.J. Watson scored 12 off the Bulls bench.
“It says a lot about our team,” said Bulls Coach Tom Thibodeau. “For the most part, this team will play hard every night and the thing to me that was disappointing about the Philly game was just the turnovers. But I love the resiliency of our team, the resolve of our team, the bounce-back ability of the team. We got great leadership from Derrick today and all our guys.
“The thing about this team is I think we’ve got a team of leaders,” he continued. “It’s not any one particular guy. It’s a whole group of guys, so I thought getting ready to play was a challenge and we’re looking at four [games] in five [nights], and you can give yourself that excuse or you can find a way to win, and that’s what I like about our team.”
The Bulls got off to hot start with Korver (3 of 5 on three-pointers) knocking down all three of his three-point attempts in the first quarter and Rose scoring eight points and dishing six dimes in the period as Chicago took a 29-25 lead, despite an aggressive Amare Stoudemire (34 points, 11 rebounds) scoring 9 points of his own.
Watson provided a spark off the bench in the second period, scoring 10 points, seemingly matching Stoudemire basket-for-basket. The Bulls closed the quarter on an 11-2 run and went into intermission with a 55-44 lead.
For the second consecutive night, the Bulls were outplayed in the third quarter as New York outscored them 31-22 in the period, converting on 14 of their first 18 attempts, and after being forced into 13 first half turnovers, the Knicks didn’t commit a single miscue in the period.
After a first half spent deferring to Stoudemire and trying to get his teammates involved, Carmelo began to assert himself during the period scoring 12 points.
The Bulls entered the fourth quarter holding onto a 77 to 75 lead.
Rose scored 14 points in the fourth period but even with his offensive explosion, the Knicks were able to stay within striking distance in large part of Stoudemire scoring 12 of his own in the period.
After a Jimmy Butler midrange shot that put Chicago ahead 101 to 96 with 1:07 remaining, Anthony would come back and nail a midrange jumper of his own. Rose would have his layup attempt blocked on the ensuing possession and Landry Fields (17 points) would convert a layup for the Knicks to close the Bulls lead to one with 23 seconds remaining.
Kyle Korver would be fouled and make both his free throws to up the lead back to three and after a Knicks timeout, a well-drawn play that gave Stoudemire a clean look at a straight on three-pointer found nothing but rim. Taj Gibson would be fouled and split a pair of free throws and the Bulls would elect to foul Anthony on the following trip, where he made both pair at the line that set up the game’s final sequence.
“I love playing here, man,” said Rose. “The crowd really loves basketball, they love basketball and I just love the energy here. They love their team, they talk about you and all that. I love it.”
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