GAME NIGHT FROM NEW YORK: Bulls: (26-35, 14, 17 on the road) at Knicks (34-27, 21-10 at home)
RADIO: WBBM 780. Chuck Swirsky and Bill Wennington. 6:15 pre.
TV: NBCSC: Adam Amin and Stacey King. 7PM.
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: Vucevic: 22ppg. Knicks: Randle: 23ppg.
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Vucevic: 10per. Knicks: Randle: 10per.
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: Satoransky: 4.9per. Knicks: Randle: 6per.
SEASON SERIES: 1-1.
CCI PREVIEW: Another tough road game for the Bulls as they take on a scrappy, confident Knicks team coming off a 118-110 loss to Phoenix, ending a nine game win streak. The Bulls trail Washington by one full game for the 10th and final play in seed. New York and Atlanta are tied for the fourth spot. The Bulls front line of Nikola Vucevic, Daniel Theis and Patrick Williams will once again be called upon to anchor and withstand the physicality of a Tom Thibodeau team holding opponents to a league low 104 points per game. Theis has been tremendous coming off his best game as a Bull, scoring 23 points, grabbing 12, rebounds, handing out five assists and blocking two shots against the Heat. Vucevic dominated the Heat in the last two games averaging 25 points and collecting 12 rebounds per contest. In three games against the Knicks as a member of Orlando, Vucevic averaged a double-double of 19 points and 15 rebounds. Look for "Vooch" to get a ton of touches in the post and three point attempts as well, moving Knicks shot blocking center Nerlens Noel away from the hoop.
Julius Randle is hearing "MVP" chants from the Knicks faithful as he is enjoying a breakout season averaging 23 points, 10 rebounds and six assists per contest.
The Bulls will once again be without Zach LaVine and Troy Brown. Alec Burks and Mitchell Robinson remain sidelined for the Knicks.
CCI NBA NEWS AND NOTES
Oklahoma City 119, Boston 115. The Thunder win a game...they're dancing in Bricktown! OKC ended a 14 game losing streak, beating a Celtics team that played without Kemba Walker and Jayson Tatum. Former Oklahoma State standout Marcus Smart went 4-17 from the floor, 1-10 from three point range. Boston went 11-49 from three point country.
Milwaukee 114, Charlotte 104. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 29 points and 12 rebounds.
Dallas 133, Golden State 103. The Warriors went nearly 10 minutes without scoring. Dallas led by as many as 43.
Portland 133, Indiana 112. Portland's Anfernee Simons tied an NBA record for most made three pointers without a miss, making all nine of his attempts. The Trailblazers scored 39 second quarter points and added 40 more in the third.
Minnesota 114, Houston 107. Break up the Timberwolves! Minnesota won its third straight for the first time since starting the 2019-20 season.
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