The Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks came out like two teams who wished they still had their feet in the pool.
The All-Star-break rust was in full effect despite Lonzo Ball and Nikola Vucevic opening the night with back-to-back threes. We watched both teams brick their fair share of shots from close range and deep, leading to a 21-19 opening frame. While the Bulls only shot 30.8 percent from the field in the first quarter, they held the slim lead thanks to the Knicks’ 25.9 percent shooting display.
A rough start for Karl-Anthony Towns was arguably the biggest reason for the Bulls’ early lead. He started the evening just 1-10 from the field, and he clearly struggled at times with the strength of Nikola Vucevic down low. The Bulls’ big man is about the only one that had any sort of offense going, as he went on to record 14 points with 5 rebounds and a block before halftime.
With Vucevic serving as the only source of consistent offense, it was only a matter of time before a more talented Knicks team regained the advantage. Ayo Dosunmu and Lonzo Ball tried to slow down Jalen Brunson, but the All-NBA guard started to have his way with the Bulls’ defense in the second quarter. He scored 13 of his 18 first-half points in the quarter to help pace the Knicks to a 50-43 lead at the halfway mark.
To be sure, we still weren’t watching pretty from the Knicks, but it didn’t need to be with the Bulls’ persistent sloppiness. New York’s ability to turn Chicago’s mistakes into easy points became a difference-maker as the night went on. The Knicks came into the game averaging the fourth-most points off turnovers per game.
The Bulls do deserve a lot of credit for their energy coming out of the locker room. Their offense looked a lot similar to what we saw in the early part of this season, as they did a nice job sharing the ball and setting up some good looks from downtown. Josh Giddey was the catalyst for the explosive scoring quarter, putting up 12 points on 5-7 shooting from the field. The Bulls also went 7-11 from downtown in the quarter, outscoring the Knicks from long range by 15.
The only reason the Knicks were able to hold onto their lead was because of Karl-Anthony Towns’ dominance. He righted the wrongs of his first-half performance, shooting 8-10 inside the paint and scoring 20 of his 32 points in the third quarter. The Knicks would ultimately match Chicago by shooting 63 percent in the quarter to hold onto a slim one-possession lead.
Fortunately for the Bulls, Josh Giddey wasn’t going anywhere. He followed up his big third quarter with an equally aggressive fourth quarter. The 22-year-old added 11 points behind three makes from downtown, one of which gave the Bulls a 101-100 lead with just 1:29 to go. After the Knicks struck back with a Precious Achiuwa layup, Giddey then found Nikola Vucevic for his own go-ahead three. One more stop and the Bulls would likely have a shocking third-straight victory over the Knicks. Jalen Brunson had other plans.
The Knicks star went after Ayo Dosunmu off the dribble, working his way into the mid-range and draining a contested 15-footer. The score was knotted up at 104-104, and the Bulls now had 22.1 seconds to make one more clutch shot. Coming out of a timeout, Lonzo Ball proceeded to whiff on a wide-open three. A scramble for the rebound ended up with the Bulls getting one more shot to win it with 2.0 seconds left to go. Giddey almost played hero yet again, finding Nikola Vucevic with a perfect inbound underneath the basket The only problem was that Mikal Bridges – who is 5 inches shorter – stuffed the big man at the rim to force OT.
New York gave Chicago many opportunities to win that game in regulation, but they weren’t going to be as kind come extra time. After another Giddey bucket to open OT, the Knicks put together a 9-0 run to take a 7-point lead with under 2 minutes to go. Coby White tried to finally lend a helping hand offensively with 5 quick points, but the Knicks had done enough to secure the 113-111 win.
Honestly, this may have been the Bulls’ most impressive tank loss yet!
Player Grades
Josh Giddey – AStats: 27 PTS, 16 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK
This was arguably Josh Giddey’s single-best game as a Chicago Bull. He took complete advantage of Josh Hart and OG Anunoby’s absence, repeatedly attacking an undermanned Knicks team off the dribble and using his positional size to gobble up boards. Not to mention, he made some HUGE threes down the stretch to give the Bulls a chance to win.
Lonzo Ball – A-Stats: 14 PTS, 4 AST, 4 REB
Lonzo Ball was all over the floor tonight and played a big part in keeping this game tight. He also reached a new milestone in his impressive comeback season, clocking 30 minutes for the first time this year!
Julian Phillips – BStats: 12 PTS, 6 REB
With Patrick Williams ruled out for at least the next two weeks, a door has swung open for Julian Phillips. The second-year forward ran through it tonight with a strong performance off the bench. His two-way energy and athleticism around the rim helped the Bulls make things interesting.
Nikola Vucevic – CStats: 21 PTS, 9 REB
Things went way downhill for Nikola Vucevic in the second half. After a strong start against Karl-Anthony Towns and an undersized Knicks team, he really struggled to execute and finished just 9-21 from the field. Likewise, his blocked game-winner and offensive foul in OT were mistakes that shouldn’t have happened.
Coby White: C-Stats: 11 PTS, 6 AST, 2 REB
I guess Coby White had one of the tougher matchups of the night, but the Bulls still needed more from him offensively. While Josh Giddey had it going, White needed more than 11 shots in his 41 minutes of action.
Box Score
Check out the full box score here.
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