Bulls' comeback attempt falls short as they lose to Knicks
NEW YORK (AP) — RJ Barrett scored 28 points, Alec Burks had 27 and the New York Knicks beat the Chicago Bulls 109-104 on Monday night for their fourth straight victory.
Obi Toppin had 17 points for the Knicks, whose strong recent play will likely come too late. They remained 4 1/2 games behind Atlanta for 10th place in the Eastern Conference and the final play-in spot with only six games remaining.
DeMar DeRozan scored 37 for the Bulls, including 15 in the fourth quarter. But he missed a jumper and then was called for an offensive foul in the final 45 seconds, cutting short Chicago's comeback attempt.
Chicago began the night a game ahead of Toronto for fifth place in the East.
Toppin played most of the fourth quarter in place of struggling Julius Randle and had eight points in the period. His dunk while being fouled led to a three-point play and an 89-79 advantage early in the period but DeRozan, the NBA leader in fourth-quarter points, kept Chicago from ever falling too far behind.
His three-point play cut it to 104-103 with 1:17 left, but after his missed jumper Burks knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner to make it 107-103 with 22 seconds to go. Randle then hit two free throws after DeRozan's offensive foul to put it away.
Mitchell Robinson finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Knicks. Randle was 1 of 9 for five points, though he did grab 13 rebounds.
TIP-INS
Bulls: Nikoka Vucevic had 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Knicks: Coach Tom Thibodeau still isn't sure if Derrick Rose will return this season. He said the point guard has increased his workload to include basketball activity but still not contact as he recovers from a procedure for a skin infection on his surgically repaired right ankle. ... Rookie guard Quentin Grimes missed his second straight game with soreness in his right knee after recently returning from an injury to the knee. Thibodeau said Grimes was day to day.
BALL UPDATE
After shutting him down recently because he was feeling pain while working his way back from January surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, the Bulls will try to ramp up Lonzo Ball again toward the end of this week. Coach Billy Donovan isn't sure what the team will do if Ball has the same problem this time.
"Everything's been kind of forward thinking. Hey, let's shut him down for a little bit, then let's get him back up and then try to address it there," Donovan said. "But they have not said to me, 'Hey, listen, if we try to try to ramp him back up and he does not respond' — they haven't said it to me yet but I'm sure we'll get to that point."
MEMORABLE MATCHUP
The game took place on the 27th anniversary of Michael Jordan's "double nickel" game, one of the most famous Bulls-Knicks matchups. Just nine days after returning from retirement, Jordan scored 55 points in Chicago's 113-111 victory at Madison Square Garden on March 28, 1995.
UP NEXT
Bulls: Visit Washington on Tuesday.
Knicks: Host Charlotte on Wednesday.
