Slow-starting Bulls battle back but fall to Knicks 88-81
As it turns out, the Bulls can make a frantic comeback just as well as they can squander a 35-point advantage.
What they don't do is play well for four full quarters.
One night after blowing an epic lead and losing to Sacramento, the Bulls trimmed a 22-point halftime deficit down to 1 in the final minutes Tuesday at New York.
Unlike the Kings, the Bulls couldn't finish this one off and lost 88-81 at Madison Square Garden. They'll head into a three-day holiday break on a two-game losing streak and a 10-17 record.
"We've got good character guys," coach Vinny Del Negro said. "That doesn't mean we're always going to play well. It was frustrating in the first half, some of the things we were missing, some of the assignments we missed defensively.
"But the guys picked it up. We can't play just a half of basketball."
It's no mystery why the Bulls play well for only portions of games: There are four players they've been able to count on consistently. Beyond that group, contributions have been sparse.
The Bulls' basic four all played well in New York. Derrick Rose attacked the basket relentlessly while scoring 22 of his 26 points after halftime.
Luol Deng added 23 points, Joakim Noah grabbed 21 rebounds, while Taj Gibson (8 points) was his usual steady self. Noah grew up in Manhattan and Gibson in Brooklyn.
Beyond that, John Salmons (2-for-9, 7 points) had another rough shooting night. Brad Miller and Jannero Pargo didn't score, and rookie James Johnson managed just 2 points and 2 rebounds during a 16-minute run.
In the locker room, Noah suggested the Bulls "have a lot of soul searching to do" after their eighth straight road loss.
"If you were my friend, I would tell you a lot of things, but I feel like if I say something it's just going to make things really bad," Noah told reporters.
"I'm not in a position as a player to really talk on that. We're really going through hard times, and I don't want to make it even tougher."
To start the third quarter, Del Negro left usual starters Miller and Salmons on the bench in favor of Gibson and Kirk Hinrich.
The Bulls trimmed their deficit to 12 points by the end of the third quarter and made up ground quickly in the final four minutes. Trailing 80-71, the Bulls ripped off a quick 8-0 run that started with a tip-in by Noah.
Rose sprinted down the floor for 2 driving lay-ins, then threw a long pass to Noah, who converted to pull the Bulls within 80-79 with 1:40 remaining.
The good news ended there for the visitors. The Bulls couldn't secure a defensive rebound, and David Lee (18 points, 21 rebounds) hit 2 free throws to put the Knicks back up by 3.
On the Bulls' next three possessions, Rose and Deng missed long jumpers, then Rose threw an inbounds pass past Gibson and out of bounds.
The Bulls still had a chance to tie by making a defensive stop, but both Rose and Noah followed Chris Duhon on a screen-and-roll, leaving Lee open to drain a 16-footer that send New York ahead 84-79 with five seconds remaining.
Mike McGraw's game tracker
Knicks 88, Bulls 81
Too late to lose: One day the Bulls are coughing up big leads, the next day they're erasing them. There is one common thread - the Bulls lost again despite trimming a 22-point halftime deficit to 1 in the final two minutes at New York.
Rose to the occasion: Derrick Rose did a nice job of leading the comeback, scoring 22 of his 26 points in the second half. Luol Deng added 23 points, Joakim Noah grabbed 21 rebounds, and rookie Taj Gibson was effective. But again the story of the Bulls season is it takes more than four players. Most nights, that's all they have.
Micromanaging: Remember how the Bulls scored 38 points in the first quarter against Sacramento on Monday? Probably not, but in the fourth quarter against the Kings and the first quarter against the Knicks, the Bulls managed to produce a total of 22 points in 24 minutes.