Zach LaVine and Coby White scored 33 points apiece and Nikola Vucevic recorded a double-double by racking up 22 points and 12 rebounds to lift the Chicago Bulls to a 139-126 win against the visiting New York Knicks on Saturday.
Chicago matched a season high in points behind a 20-for-37 effort from beyond the arc. White set a career high for made 3-pointers, going 9-for-11 from deep.
Josh Giddey contributed 15 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as Chicago won for the third time in four games.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 44 points, 16 rebounds and five assists for the Knicks. Jalen Brunson had 33 points, and Josh Hart added 16 rebounds and 10 assists.
Mikal Bridges (18 points) and OG Anunoby (12) also scored in double figures for the Knicks.
New York trailed by 19 in the fourth quarter but drew within six points, 119-113, on a Towns layup with 6:18 left. Chicago didn’t allow the visitors to come any closer, though, as the Knicks lost for the second time in as many nights on the heels of a nine-game winning streak.
LaVine hit a trey on the game’s first possession, but the Knicks needed just 49 seconds to take the lead, and they held it for most of the night. A return to the perimeter game fueled a Bulls eruption in the third quarter, however, with Chicago outscoring New York 41-17 in the period. White went for nine points during the third, hitting a pair of treys in the final minute.
New York missed all seven of its attempts from long range in the quarter.
Brunson carried New York to a 72-63 halftime lead, scoring 26 points on 8-for-12 shooting in the first half.
New York led by as many as 11 points in the first half. Getting to the rim was the difference. One night after shooting only 17 free throws against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Knicks went to the foul line 18 times in the first 24 minutes of action alone.
The Bulls honored standout guard Derrick Rose during a halftime ceremony. A Chicago native, Rose spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Bulls, winning Rookie of the Year in 2009 and MVP in 2011. Rose played for five other teams and spent parts of four seasons with the Knicks.
–Field Level Media
