McGraw: Knicks offer no challenge at all for Bulls
Activity came to a stop in the Bulls' locker room Saturday night during the final minute of the Kentucky-Notre Dame regional final.
Besides former Kentucky player Nazr Mohammad, no one seemed to have much of a rooting interest. Joakim Noah, who was an SEC rival of the Wildcats during his days at Florida, watched Kentucky avoid the upset without any reaction.
Asked later if he was hoping Kentucky won or lost, Noah waited a few seconds before saying, "Whatever."
At least the NCAA Tournament telecast brought some excitement inside the United Center. Earlier in the night, the Bulls rolled past the struggling New York Knicks with ridiculous ease.
Earlier this season, the Bulls made a habit of losing at home to sub-.500 teams. Maybe they've gotten better in that regard, but it was tough to tell with the Knicks providing such little resistance.
"The thing is, everyone is capable of beating you," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "I like the way we approached it this morning (at shootaround). I thought our guys came out with a lot of energy to start the game, and I thought we played tough with the lead."
This one was so lopsided, fans at the UC started a wave late in the game, with Joakim Noah and Jimmy Butler joining in from the Bulls' bench.
The Bulls (45-29) have won five of their last six and matched a season best by moving 16 games above .500. They remain 2 games in the loss column behind second-place Cleveland and 1 ahead of fourth-place Toronto with eight games remaining.
New York suffered its 60th loss of the season, the most in franchise history.
Nikola Mirotic led six Bulls in double figures with 24 points. Pau Gasol finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds for his league-leading 48th double-double of the season. Butler had 18 points and 5 steals, while Taj Gibson stayed on the floor for much of the fourth quarter and added 14.
The Bulls finished with a 51-35 rebounding edge and led 50-22 in points in the paint.
There was time for a few experiments in this game. Late in the third quarter, Thibodeau tried an especially tall lineup with Kirk Hinrich at point guard, 6-foot-9 Mike Dunleavy at shooting guard and the 6-10 Mirotic at small forward, along with Gibson and Gasol. It worked well, but everything worked on this night.
"We ran a few new plays to see how they would work," Gasol said. "But most of it is just try to continue to play the way you've been playing. You just build for the next game. Nothing too different.
"You've got to stay consistent and stay locked in and do what you're supposed to do."
The Bulls now get three days off before their next game Wednesday at Milwaukee. No one was complaining about the extended time between games.
"Awesome. It's real important," Gasol said. "It's a good opportunity to take care of our bodies, let them heal up and then get good energy to face the Bucks on their home floor.
"I think the schedule now, it's good. It's favorable for us to be able to tighten up on things, get some rest, work on ourselves and get ready for the final stretch."
Added Noah: "We're moving in the right direction. I think the team's in a good place. We just have to keep moving. Hopefully we can get Pooh (Derrick Rose) back and get him jelling too. It's exciting."
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