NBA
Complete – March 24, 2016 – 7:30 PM ET – Madison Square Garden, New York, New York – Attendance: 19,812 – Duration: 2 Hours, 1 Minutes
Officials
 
Referee #25 Tony Brothers
Referee #29 Mark Lindsay
Referee #44 Eli Roe
Boxscore
 1234T
CHI2718202994
NY31222726106
Player Stats
POSplayerminptsastrebstlblkfoulto
SGJimmy Butler3919333134
GDerrick Rose3930322011
SGMike Dunleavy299241011
FTaj Gibson2610161040
FNikola Mirotic248360031
GAaron Brooks186131000
FBobby Portis170140011
FDoug McDermott141000000
SGJustin Holiday135151010
FTony Snell00000000
CPau Gasol00000000
Player Stats
POSplayerminptsastrebstlblkfoulto
FCarmelo Anthony3626471022
FKristaps Porzingis35190100321
CRobin Lopez344170324
GJose Calderon3312771032
SGArron Afflalo2911230002
SGSasha Vujacic199312012
FDerrick Williams1713030012
SGLangston Galloway166140110
GJerian Grant124000001
CKevin Seraphin102130201
FKyle O’Quinn00000000
FLou Amundson00000000
Knicks complete home-and-home sweep of Bulls

NEW YORK — If the Chicago Bulls fail to make the playoffs, they can point at two back-to-back losses late in the season against the New York Knicks as a major reason.

The Knicks, a sub-.500 team for the last two months, completed a home-and-home sweep of the Bulls with a 106-94 win Thursday at Madison Square Garden.

New York (30-43) defeated the Bulls 115-107 in Chicago on Wednesday. New York has a chance to play the spoiler role in the remaining three weeks of the regular season.

The two losses cramp the Bulls’ run for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Chicago (36-35) fell 1 1/2 games behind the Detroit Pistons in the race for eighth place.

“I’ve never been so frustrated and mad before,” said Chicago’s Taj Gibson, who scored 10 points. “It was real disappointing.

“We’re playing against teams that aren’t playing for anything and we’re just laying down.”

Carmelo Anthony paced the Knicks with 26 points, and rookie forward Kristaps Porzingis scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Derrick Williams added 13 points, and Jose Calderon chipped in with 12 points.

For the second night in a row, New York out-rebounded Chicago 45-34.

“We had a good practice before went to Chicago,” said Knicks interim coach Kurt Rambis. “They did a good job in both ballgames of getting organized and getting to spots on the floor, getting their spacing so they can kind of see what’s going on.

“Their (Knicks) ability to move the basketball allows them to have a good inside-out ballgame.”

Derrick Rose poured in 30 points for the Bulls, who were without forward Pau Gasol, who was resting his swollen right knee. Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said he hopes to have Gasol back for Saturday’s game against the Orlando Magic, another team behind the Bulls in the Eastern Conference.

The Knicks controlled the game from early in the first quarter. Chicago trailed by double digits for most of the second half. It’s only lead was 8-7.

“They (Bulls) struggled shooting the ball from the outside and I would like to think our defense had something to do with that,” observed Rambis. “Their (Bulls) legs were tired as well, plus we’re a pretty good rebounding team as well.”

The Knicks went up by a game-high 17 points, 100-83, on Anthony’s 3-pointer with 3:29 left and the Bulls never recovered, failing to get closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

A three-quarter alley-oop pass from Calderon to Williams pushed the Knicks to a 90-74 lead, their largest to that point, with 7:29 to play.

A jumper from Porzingis, a reverse layup from Arron Afflalo and a 3-pointer from Calderon opened the Knicks’ advantage to 71-57 with 2:47 left in the third quarter after the Bulls missed four shots in a row.

Anthony and Porzingis deposited 12 points each in the first half to put the Knicks ahead 53-45 at the break. Rose scored six consecutive points to bring the Bulls within 38-35 with 6:02 left in the half.

Chicago struggled through a poor shooting first half, hitting just one of 12 3-point attempts.

After shooting 55 percent from the floor in the first quarter, the Bulls missed their first eight shots of the second quarter and fell behind 36-27 before Nikola Mirotic’s put-back dunk at the 8:44 mark.

For the game, Chicago made six of 25 3-point tries, while New York sank 13 of 30. The Knicks hit 51.3 percent of their field-goal attempts while limiting the Bulls to 41.6 percent shooting.

NOTES: The Bulls play eight of their final 12 games on the road. … The Knicks played the back end final of 17 back-to-backs this season, finishing 8-9. … Bulls rookie F Cristiano Felicio was making only his second start of the season. He scored six points in 21 minutes. … Chicago has lost 170 games due to injury or illness this season. Last year, the Bulls missed 148 total. … G Tony Wroten (right knee rehabilitation) and F Lance Thomas (strained left MCL) were out for the Knicks. … C Robin Lopez is the only Knicks player to start all 73 games. … The Bulls have made at least 10 3-pointers 16 times this season. That is the second-most in franchise history since the 3-point line was incorporated in 1979-80. They made just 6 of 25 on Thursday.

Report: Knicks discuss trade for Bulls’ Rose

The New York Knicks have entertained internal discussions on acquiring Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose, ESPN reported on Friday, citing sources.

While the report did not detail if the Bulls were willing to part ways with the former NBA MVP, the Knicks have made it no secret that they wish to upgrade their backcourt.

Jose Calderon, who will be 35 in September, serves as New York’s starting point guard and averaged just 7.6 points and a career-worst 4.1 assists per game last season. Second-year Jerian Grant and free-agent Tony Wroten are also in the mix.

The oft-injured Rose will be a free agent after the 2016-17 season for the Bulls, who have been rumored to be listening on offers for fellow guard Jimmy Butler. Boston and Minnesota are reportedly involved in that conversation.

Rose, who was the top overall pick of the 2008 draft, tore his ACL in his left knee during the 2012 playoffs before tearing the meniscus in his right knee early in the 2013-14 campaign. The 27-year-old averaged 16.4 points and 4.7 assists for the Bulls this season.


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