Knicks Lead By Up To 15 In First Half, But Fall To Bulls
CHICAGO (AP) — Kris Dunn scored 17 points, including two clutch free throws in the final seconds, and the surging Chicago Bulls rallied to beat the New York Knicks 92-87 on Wednesday night.
Chicago trailed by as many as 15 in the first half, but shut down New York down the stretch of its ninth win in 11 games. The Knicks managed just three points in the final 5 1/2 minutes.
Lauri Markkanen scored 12 points for the Bulls, and Justin Holiday and Robin Lopez had 11 points apiece. Holiday also made three of Chicago's 10 3-pointers in 28 attempts, compared to a 4-for-23 performance from beyond the arc for New York.
Kristaps Porzingis led the Knicks with 23 points, and Courtney Lee had 17. New York has dropped three straight.
The Knicks led for most of the night before Holiday hit a corner 3-pointer that tied it at 86 with 3:01 left.
Neither team scored for the next two-plus minutes before Dunn found Markkanen ahead of the field for a dunk.
New York's Jarrett Jack was fouled with 8.5 seconds left and had a chance to tie it, but converted just 1 of 2 free throws. Dunn was fouled with 7.8 seconds to go and made both for a 90-87 lead.
Following a timeout, Enes Kanter's 3-point attempt missed badly and bounced out of bounds. Holiday then iced the game with a pair of free throws.
The Bulls posted a 104-102 victory in the first meeting between the teams on Dec. 9 at the United Center, with Dunn hitting a pair of free throws with 2.9 seconds left.
TIP INS
Knicks: F Doug McDermott made his first start of the season and finished with three points in 37 minutes. F Lance Thomas had started 10 games with Tim Hardaway Jr. sidelined with a stress injury of the lower left leg. ... C Joakim Noah was inactive for the second time in the last four games. The former Bull also was inactive for the Dec. 9 game.
Bulls: With his performance at Milwaukee on Tuesday, Dunn joined Michael Jordan as the only Bulls player with at least 20 points, 12 assists, four steals and two blocks in a game. Only 18 players total have amassed that stat line in an NBA game. "It was good to see him bounce back after probably his toughest game of the season in Boston (on Saturday) where he was 1 for 12," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "It didn't rattle him that he had a tough night in Boston."
UP NEXT
Knicks: Visit San Antonio on Thursday night.
Bulls: Host Indiana on Friday night.
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