Knicks-Bulls Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Mar 11 2012 10:11PM

While a five-game losing streak has quieted the New York Knicks and "Linsanity", Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls haven't lost a step despite injuries.

The Bulls hope to have at least one of three missing starters back when they host the Knicks on Monday night.

Chicago (34-9) owns the best record in the NBA, having won nine of 10. That success is all the more impressive considering the injuries the Bulls (34-9) have sustained.

Rose has missed 10 games this season, Luol Deng has missed eight and Richard Hamilton, expected to be a starter when he was signed in the offseason, has been limited to 16 games.

Deng (wrist), Hamilton (shoulder) and Joakim Noah (illness) all sat out Chicago's 111-97 home win over Utah on Saturday. Of the three, Noah has the greatest chance of playing Monday.

Despite missing the three starters - as well as key reserve C.J. Watson (sprained ankle) - the Bulls easily defeated the Jazz. Rose finished with 24 points and 13 assists while Kyle Korver, making his fifth start, shot 6 of 11 from 3-point range to finish with a season-high 26 points. He also had seven rebounds and six assists.

"Everybody stepped up," said Carlos Boozer, who had 27 points and eight rebounds. "We've got a group of guys that believe in each other and that no matter who's out there, we can win."

The Bulls were also without Deng and Hamilton when they defeated the Knicks 105-102 on Feb. 2 at Madison Square Garden. It's uncertain if either will be back anytime this week as Chicago opens a tough stretch with Miami visiting on Wednesday before back-to-back home games against Portland and Philadelphia.

"We try to find a new way to answer this question every day," Korver said. "I think a couple guys might come back on Monday, but if not, we'll just keep on plugging it in."

While the Bulls held on to beat New York last month behind 32 points and 13 assists from Rose, this will be their first time facing Jeremy Lin, who didn't appear in the first meeting.

Lin reinvigorated the Knicks (18-23) in early February, helping lead them to seven straight wins, but he and his teammates now find themselves in the midst of a five-game losing streak, including a 106-94 home defeat to Philadelphia on Sunday.

Carmelo Anthony scored 22 points but didn't make a field goal over the final three quarters. Lin added 14 points, but shot just 5 of 18 and had six turnovers for the Knicks, who shot 41.3 percent and trailed by as many as 21 points. They've trailed by at least 15 during each game of the losing streak.

Coach Mike D'Antoni insisted he wasn't sending a message by sitting Anthony and Amare Stoudemire the entire fourth quarter, but a lack of energy is certainly plaguing the Knicks.

New York is giving up an average of 110.6 points during its March skid, with the last three opponents combining to shoot 51.0 percent. Those numbers may not improve against the Bulls and Rose, who is averaging 27.0 points in his last seven games against New York.

The losing streak has left New York just one game ahead of Milwaukee for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

"Yeah, it's definitely not easy," said Stoudemire, who scored 34 points against the Bulls last month. "Tough game in Chicago. A lot of games within this month against tough, competitive teams. So it's up to us as players to want to do better out there."

Chicago is seeking its third consecutive victory in this series.

Rose scores 32 to lead Bulls past Knicks 104-99

Posted Mar 13 2012 12:43AM

CHICAGO (AP) Derrick Rose had another big scoring night to help the league-best Chicago Bulls to another win. Still, he was frustrated after the game.

Rose had 32 points, six rebounds and seven assists as the Bulls beat New York 104-99 on Monday night for their 10th win in 11 games and sending the reeling Knicks to their sixth straight loss. He had to work for his points, shooting 12 for 29 from the floor and absorbing contact from Knicks defenders all night.

"I've got to be the only the only superstar in the league that's going through what I'm going through right now," Rose said. "Can't say too much about it."

It was a physical game throughout as New York attempted 31 free throws and Chicago had 28.

"I'm going to continue to play the way I know how to play," Rose said. "I came into this league as a driver. Nothing has changed."

The Bulls won despite the absence of starters Luol Deng and Richard Hamilton, as well as key reserve C.J. Watson. They got a jolt of energy from the reserves, led by Taj Gibson's 15 points and a team-high 13 boards. Chicago, which outrebounded New York 56-38, entered the game leading the league in rebounding margin.

"I thought our rebounding was outstanding," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "Taj was great. I thought the second shots he got us in the second half was the difference in the game."

Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points and Amare Stoudemire added 20 for the Knicks, but the two combined for just seven points in the fourth quarter as the Bulls pulled away.

"They are very tenacious on the offensive boards," Stoudemire said. "They did a phenomenal job. Whenever there was a mismatch, they took advantage of it as far as crashing the boards."

Jeremy Lin had 15 points and eight assists for New York, but shot just 4 of 11 from the floor and while he bothered Rose at times, he ultimately had little luck stopping him.

Lin, who has been plagued by turnovers, committed just three miscues against Chicago's elite defense.

"He's good," Rose said. "He didn't turn the ball over that much. He's playing with a lot of confidence. His teammates believe in him. You can go so far in this league when you have your teammates behind you."

The Knicks have lost six straight for the second time this season and, combined with Milwaukee's win at New Jersey, are now tied with the Bucks for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. New York has lost eight of 10 since Anthony returned to the lineup from an injury on Feb. 20.

"Second chance points just got us," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said. "You can't give these guys 20 more shots at the basket than we had."

Carlos Boozer scored 15 points and Joakim Noah had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls. Rookie Jimmy Butler played a key role with eight points in 29 minutes, making several big energy plays to excite the sellout crowd.

"(Gibson and Butler) are the reason why we won, making huge plays, big shots, diving for the ball, saving balls," Rose said. "That's the reason why we won. I definitely take off my hat to both of them guys."

The Bulls' dominance on the boards led to the key basket of the game midway through the fourth quarter. With the shot clock expiring, Rose flipped up a long shot that bounced off the back of the rim, but Gibson chased down the rebound, bringing the United Center crowd to its feet.

Then Rose cut behind Lin, who had turned his head, took a bounce pass from Noah and threw down a thunderous, one-handed dunk to put the Bulls ahead 91-84 with 6:01 to play.

A couple of minutes later, Butler put an exclamation point on his performance by roaring in from the baseline to dunk Boozer's missed shot.

"(I try to) be an energy guy," Butler said. "It's easy to do when you see Taj. He played extremely well for us tonight. When you see the expression in his face and (Joakim Noah's) face, that rubs off on me. The energy, it comes from everybody."

Anthony hit a 3 to cut the lead to four with 49.8 seconds remaining but that was as close as the Knicks got.

"We didn't finish the job," said Knicks center Tyson Chandler, who had 13 points and 10 rebounds. "You've got to get the rebound. ... A lot of it is Derrick Rose. The pressure he applies getting to the basket, attacking. Drawing two defenders. It kind of unleashes them on the offensive glass."

In the third quarter, Rose capped a 12-2 run with a floater off a crossover that left Lin in the dust, giving Chicago a seven-point lead.

The Knicks responded with an 11-5 spurt of their own, all of the points coming from Stoudemire and Anthony, who combined for 21 points in the third.

The playoff-type game was intense to the finish, coming to a crescendo on Rose's fourth-quarter dunk that is sure to be featured on the nightly highlight shows. Rose had an angry expression on his face after the dunk, but said he didn't really remember the play. He did, however, have an inkling about the look on his face.

"I kind of blacked out right there, I'll have to watch it again," Rose said. "I was probably mad because they wasn't calling no fouls the whole game."

NOTES: Deng sat out for the second straight game after his left wrist injury flared up during last Thursday's loss to Orlando. Hamilton missed his fourth straight game because of a right shoulder contusion and minor sprain. He has missed 27 games this season due to various injuries. Watson missed his fifth game in a row because of a sprained left ankle. All three players are considered day-to-day by the team. . Knicks reserve Jared Jeffries missed the game because of a sore left knee. D'Antoni said he expects Jeffries to return for Wednesday's game against Portland. . The Bulls haven't lost consecutive games since Feb. 5-7, 2011 - a franchise-record stretch of 75 games. . The Bulls improved to 30-0 when leading after three quarters.

Notebook: Bulls 104, Knicks 99

Posted Monday March 12, 2012 11:48PM

By Kent McDill, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: In what could be a first-round playoff matchup in the Eastern Conference, the Chicago Bulls outlasted a gritty New York Knicks team and recorded a 104-99 victory at the United Center Monday. In his first matchup with New York point guard Jeremy Lin, Bulls guard Derrick Rose scored 32 points and had seven assists, while Lin finished with 15 points and eight assists. The power forward combination of Carlos Boozer and Taj Gibson each had 15 points and Joakim Noah had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds after missing a game with stomach flu. Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 21 points, but New York lost its sixth straight game.

INJURY UPDATE: Once again, the Bulls played without three of their top seven players. Luol Deng sat out another game with pain in his injured wrist, C.J. Watson remained out with his ankle sprain, and Rip Hamilton did not play because of his shoulder injury.

TURNING POINT: With 2:07 left, Chicago's Noah tipped a jump ball away from New York's Amar'e Stoudamire and Rose beat Lin to the ball for a layup that gave the Bulls a 97-90 lead with two minutes remaining.

QUOTABLE: "No matter who I'm playing against, I'm trying to win the matchup."
-- Bulls guard Rose on playing against New York's Jeremy Lin for the first time.

THE STAT: The New York Knicks attempted 31 free throws, making 22. The Bulls were 19 of 28 from the line.

THE STAT II: The Bulls outrebounded the Knicks 56-38 and had 22 offensive boards.

GOOD MOVE: When the Bulls selected Jimmy Butler out of Marquette in the 2011 draft, they weren't sure they had a spot for him on the roster. Butler had his biggest game as a Bull (in the absence of starting small forward Deng) with eight points in almost 29 minutes of action.

HOT: Bulls backup power forward Gibson had a double-double off the bench with 15 points and 13 rebounds. He had eight offensive rebounds, one less than the entire New York team.

QUOTABLE II: "We played well for long stretches, but the second chance points got us. The whole game they had us on the offensive glass."
-- New York head coach Mike D'Antoni.

NOTABLE: With Milwaukee's win over New Jersey Monday, the Bucks moved into a tie with the New York Knicks at 18-24 for the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Bucks have won three games in a row while the Knicks have dropped six straight.

UP NEXT: For the Bulls, vs. Heat Wednesday, vs. Blazers Friday, vs. 76ers Saturday. For the Knicks, vs. Blazers Wednesday, vs. Pacers Friday, @ Pacers Saturday.

• Knicks: Jeffries, Walker
• Bulls: --

• Knicks: D'Antoni
• Bulls: Thibodeau

• Lead Changes: 17
• Times Tied: 13

• Arena: United Center, Chicago, IL
• Officials: #55 Bill Kennedy, #28 Tommy Nunez Jr., #35 Kane Fitzgerald
• Attendance: 22863
• Duration: 2:34