Bulls fail to execute vs. Knicks in 109-104 loss
Based on the box score, it looked like the Bulls regained some of their midrange magic from midseason. DeMar DeRozan scored 37 points and got it going in the fourth quarter, while Zach LaVine added 27.
But in a game the Bulls led by 12 points, then trailed by 13, they couldn't execute well enough at the very end to prevent a 109-104 loss to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Monday.
The final result feels like a quick postseason ending is inevitable and the Bulls will not be able to regain their successful form from a few months ago. But after closing the road trip in Washington on Tuesday, they do get five straight home games.
Landing a top-four seed and homecourt advantage in the first round appears to be out of the question now, as the Bulls slumped to 4-11 over their last 15 games.
"All it takes is one," DeRozan said. "Cleveland was a big game for us (on Saturday). We had an opportunity tonight to kind of keep that thing going, but we dropped this one. It stinks, it's frustrating. We've got to let it be frustrating and take it out on Washington. That's all we can do. We can't dwell on it too much."
The ending was about as frustrating as it has been for the Bulls all season. DeRozan missed a jumper with 3:11 left that would have given them the lead. LaVine had a driving scoop rim out for the tie with 1:39 left, then DeRozan had another jumper for the lead that didn't fall with 46.7 seconds on the clock.
After the LaVine miss, Alex Caruso picked up his sixth foul on the other end and R.J. Barrett hit a pair of free throws. A DeRozan 3-point play and defensive stop gave the Bulls another chance. But after they missed that one, Alec Burks drained a corner 3-pointer to put New York up by 4 with 23.2 seconds left.
Shooting percentage helped explain the Bulls' downfall in this game. After hitting 4 of 6 shots from 3-point range in the first quarter, the they went 2-for-17 the rest of the way.
"That's on us," DeRozan said. "We can't have consistent lapses where we let our offense dictate our defense and give teams a rhythm offensively. That's what happened tonight, especially in that second quarter. Once we got down, we were back to fighting that uphill battle.
"We've just got to be conscious of understanding it's a 48-minute game. No matter how we're playing offensively, we've got to rely defensively. I've got to do a better job, all of us."
The Knicks treated this game like they were a football team with a power running game that keeps running the ball up the middle. They used a size advantage to build a 13-6 edge in offensive rebounds.
New York center Mitchell Robinson got 8 of his 12 rebounds on the offensive end, while Julius Randle added 13 boards.
"I want to see the film how much was it we didn't rotationally block out, or were we trying and just his length was too much for us?" coach Billy Donovan said.
The Bulls hit 12 of 19 shots in the first quarter, and opened up the 12-point lead early in the second. But during a 13-minute stretch, continuing into the second half, the Bulls were outscored 40-15 and were forced to scramble from behind.
Donovan continued to use both Caruso and Ayo Dosunmo in the starting lineup, with Javonte Green coming off the bench. The Bulls managed just 11 bench points in this game, led by Coby White's 6. Patrick Williams, in his fifth game back from wrist surgery, had no points and 2 rebounds in 13 minutes.
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