Bulls look like court jesters in disturbing loss to lowly Knicks

NEW YORK -- How appropriate that comedians Bill Murray and Ray Romano both sat courtside for this battle of NBA laughingstocks.

The Bulls' ugly start this season grew even more hideous Saturday afternoon in Manhattan.

The visitors managed to shoot 34.5 percent against one of the league's worst defenses and lost to New York 85-78.

They lost to a Knicks team on an eight-game losing streak that had been allowing 103.9 points per game this season until the Bulls came along.

"I don't like that excuse from coaches, I never have, that, 'We just didn't make shots,' " Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. "Because there's always something you can do. However, we're in a little bit of a stretch here where that would really be helpful."

At least the Bulls (2-9) managed to evade one insult. After a week where the job status of Knicks coach Isiah Thomas dominated the sports news here, the matinee crowd at Madison Square Garden never flipped and launched into a "Keep Isiah" chant.

"It has definitely been a long losing streak," said Thomas, who grew up on Chicago's West Side. "In the NBA, particularly in New York, a week is like a year here."

Considering how the tumultuous Knicks (3-9) shot less than 40 percent from the field themselves, this loss could arguably rank among the most embarrassing in team history.

But in reality, the Bulls simply did what they've done all season. The defense was decent and Andres Nocioni was aggressive on offense, but the rest of the team's shooters developed a case of frigid fingers down the stretch.

After Kirk Hinrich's jumper tied the score at 75-75 with 4:10 remaining, the Bulls missed their final 8 shots. Their last 3 points came on free throws by Nocioni (23 points) after the Knicks had already pulled away.

If the Bulls could have located one more hot hand to join Nocioni, they might have won this game with ease. But forward Luol Deng sat out his third game with a sore back, while guards Hinrich and Ben Gordon combined to hit 9 of 35 attempts (25.7 percent).

Hinrich is now shooting 33.3 percent for the season, while Gordon is 6-for-31 from the field (19.3 percent) in his last two games. Gordon, a Mt. Vernon, N.Y., native, usually saves his best performances for the Garden.

"It's one thing to miss the tough shots we normally make," Gordon said. "We're missing open shots. They didn't come out with some magical scheme that we couldn't figure out. We just couldn't buy a bucket when we needed it."

The Bulls trailed 65-54 heading into the fourth quarter, then hit 5 straight shots to get back into it.

They had two chances to take the lead while trailing 76-75, but both Hinrich and Gordon missed jumpers. Then after a Stephon Marbury basket put New York up by 3, Thabo Sefolosha's 3-point attempt barely grazed iron, and a second Sefolosha jumper clanged well short off the front rim.

Then Hinrich missed two in a row, with a 3-point attempt failing to make any contact with the rim.

"The ones I'm missing I kind of feel like I'm rushing," Hinrich said. "Whenever I just take a shot in rhythm and relax a little bit, it goes in. I think it's an all-time high for frustration among the group. We just have to snap out of it somehow, some way."

The Bulls don't have to wait long for their next game. It tips off today at 11 a.m. in Toronto, and coach Scott Skiles kept putting his positive spin on the team's future.

"I don't look at life through the lens of self-doubt," Skiles said. "I never have. I have total belief in myself and my staff. We've just got to stay with it. Somehow we've got to find a way to step up and make shots."

Today's tipoff

Bulls vs. Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre, 11 a.m.

TV: Channel 9

Radio: WMVP 1000-AM

Update: The Raptors appeared to be championship contenders when they crushed the Bulls 101-71 at the United Center on Nov. 10. The rest of the league hasn't had as much difficulty, considering Toronto fell to 6-7 with Saturday's 111-108 loss in Cleveland. Power forward Chris Bosh scored 41 against the Cavs. Point guard T.J. Ford missed the last two games with a stinger in his left arm.

Fast fact: The Bulls won 15 in a row against Toronto but have now lost three straight in the series since their streak was snapped last February.

Next: Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday at the United Center, 7:30 p.m.

-- Mike McGraw