Bulls finally kick it into gear, boot Knicks
With a playoff spot at stake and a semiautomatic win over the New York Knicks at hand, the Bulls picked a strange time to keep themselves a safe distance from the basket.
The Bulls trailed 56-53 at halftime and were credited with 14 points in the paint during the first half. Out of 53.
What was promoting that fear of attacking the basket? Al Harrington? David Lee? New York's rugged team defense?
The Knicks own one of the NBA's worst defenses.
Coach Vinny Del Negro was so frustrated by his team's lack of interior offense, he gave backup center Aaron Gray some rare meaningful minutes at the end of the second quarter.
The Bulls finally summoned some aggression just in the nick of time, so to speak. Trailing 90-85 with less than nine minutes remaining, the Bulls used their defense to produce a 15-0 run, then held on for a 110-103 victory Tuesday night.
"I thought our fourth-quarter defense was the difference," Del Negro said. "When we get after it defensively, we get in attack mode offensively in transition, and with the weapons we have, we have the ability to score ourselves."
By improving their record at the United Center to 12-1 since the all-star break, the Bulls (38-40) trimmed their magic number for clinching a playoff spot to 2.
They moved alone into seventh place, a half-game ahead of Detroit, which plays in New York tonight, and stayed 3 games up on ninth-place Charlotte, which beat Philadelphia.
"Every win is great for us because it keeps our confidence up, keeps our momentum going," forward John Salmons said.
When the Bulls needed a spark in this game, they got it from veteran guard Kirk Hinrich, who scored a team-high 25 points off the bench. Salmons added 19, while Derrick Rose and Tyrus Thomas scored 18 each.
The Bulls collected 4 steals during the fourth-quarter run, 2 by Hinrich, and scored on eight straight possessions. The home team took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Salmons and finished with 3 fastbreaks.
Hinrich hit 2 free throws off a steal, Rose found Thomas for an alley-oop dunk, then Rose hit a layup off a pass from Salmons to make it 100-90 with 5:16 remaining.
"It was nice to see us be aggressive," Del Negro said. "I thought our rotations were quicker and better than they were in the first three quarters."
Added Hinrich: "I always try to bring defensive intensity no matter what. We kind of cranked it up a little bit once the fourth quarter started."
Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni didn't see much reason to credit the Bulls' defense after the game.
"We just threw the ball to them," he said. "Maybe the Bulls played a little harder. I doubt it."
The Knicks (30-48) got back into the game late, pulling within 104-103 with 22.1 seconds left on a 3-pointer by former DePaul star Wilson Chandler (26 points).
But the Bulls hit 6 straight free throws in the final seconds, while Thomas blocked a 3-point attempt by Quentin Richardson when New York had a chance to tie.