Bah, humbug ... Bulls go bust in Big Apple
Anyone who ever questioned Mike D'Antoni's ability to coach defense or Amare Stoudemire's desire to play it would have trouble explaining Saturday's result at Madison Square Garden.
The Bulls were locked in an up-and-down battle with the New York Knicks for three quarters. In the fourth, the Bulls struggled to muster any offense and lost the Christmas Day matinee to D'Antoni's Knicks 103-95.
When Derrick Rose knocked down a jumper with 10:10 remaining, the score was tied 87-87. Over the next 8:22, the Bulls missed 11 shots from the field, committed 4 turnovers, bricked a couple free throws and failed to score. By the time Carlos Boozer finally got the Bulls back on the board, the Knicks had opened a 10-point lead.
“To their credit, I thought they played good defense,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I think we have to execute when we are being doubled-teamed. We've got to make plays. We didn't do that tonight.”
Boozer led the Bulls (18-10) with 26 points and 19 rebounds, while Rose piled up 25 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds and 6 steals. But Luol Deng (15 points) was the only other player in double figures. The Bulls committed 21 turnovers, 7 each by Rose and Boozer.
Injured center Joakim Noah isn't known for his offense, but he was averaging 14 points on the season before thumb surgery. The Bulls are having trouble locating another scoring option. Veteran Kurt Thomas, who started his third straight game at center, contributed 4 points. Taj Gibson is working his way back from a concussion and had 4 points in just 13 minutes of action.
“We ended up standing still,” Boozer said after the game, according to espn.com. “Too many guys were just watching the double team. Usually when D (Rose) gets double-teamed or I get double-teamed, usually we got guys moving or cutting so it makes an easier outlet. We had too many guys standing and watching us get double-teamed. So it put us in tough positions trying to make plays out of a double team.”
The Knicks (18-12) had all five starters score in double figures, led by Stoudemire and guard Raymond Felton with 20 points each. For the second time this season, New York burned the Bulls from the 3-point line, knocking down 12 of 22 attempts from long range.
With the Knicks crowding the paint defensively to stop Rose and Boozer, the Bulls knocked down just 4 of 14 shots from 3-point range.
The Bulls didn't shoot well from the foul line (11-for-20), either, and were left wondering how Rose could drive to the basket so many times and shoot just 3 free throws. Rose had words for Stoudemire in the fourth quarter when the Knicks center wrapped his elbow around Rose's neck after the whistle had blown. Stoudemire sent Rose flying into the basket support with a hard foul early in the game, which resulted in 2 of Rose's 3 free throws.
“That's basketball,” Rose said. “We got heated up for a minute, but it's nothing more than that. It was just a basketball play, where things are going to get physical. He's a big man, that's what he's supposed to do.”
With 3:15 remaining and the Bulls down by 8, Boozer scored in the paint, but was called for a charge against Stoudemire. Replays showed Stoudemire had at least one foot well behind the line, so the basket should have counted.