Most teams turn it off when they’re down 22 points in the second half of a game.
But the Knicks aren’t most teams, and the Madison Square Garden faithful isn’t just any crowd. Those are two points underscored in a wild 124-123 loss in the second leg of a back-to-back against the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday.
The Knicks came out a step slow after Tuesday’s 111-99 victory over the 76ers in Philadelphia, and the Bulls — who play at the NBA’s fastest pace — took advantage early, building a lead that ballooned to 22 points twice in the third quarter.
And then it happened: a remarkable 17-0 run in the final four minutes of the third quarter. A Knicks team that trailed 90-68 with 3:53 to go in the third quarter found itself down just five entering the final frame. As the Knicks mounted the comeback, the MSG crowd grew more rowdy.
The Knicks outscored the Bulls, 60-34, in the game’s final 16 minutes.
Did Josh Hart foul Coby White’s hair? pic.twitter.com/bYlPVzidwt
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) November 14, 2024
The game would seesaw back and forth from there, a run spurred largely by Karl-Anthony Towns and the Knicks’ second unit coming down to the wire — and after Jalen Brunson scored on two consecutive isolation possessions to give the Knicks a one-point lead late in regulation, Josh Hart fouled Bulls guard Coby White on a three-point attempt, and White made all three free throws to give the Bulls a one-point lead with 3.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Brunson shot a turn-around, fadeaway over Bulls forward Patrick Williams as the game clock expired, but the ball rolled around the rim then rimmed out, as the Bulls handed the Knicks their sixth loss of the early season.
Towns set a new Knicks career-high with 46 points on 18-of-30 shooting from the field and 6-of-12 shooting from three-point range, Brunson added 24 points on 9-of-20 shooting, and Mikal Bridges scored 20 points in 43 minutes of play. Backup guard Cameron Payne added 11 key points off the bench on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from three-point range, including a pair of walk-up treys to help chop into the Bulls’ 22-point lead in the third quarter.
For the Bulls, Zach LaVine led the way with 31 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the field, and Coby White added 22 points, while Ayo Dosunmu came off the bench to score 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including a handful of plays to help stave off a wild Knicks’ late-game comeback.
The Knicks have now dropped four of their last six games, but there were positives to take from the loss, most notably the heart the team showed fighting back from a seemingly insurmountable deficit to nearly steal a win from the Bulls. Brunson (ankle), Payne (hamstring) and Miles McBride (knee inflammation) were all listed as questionable ahead of tipoff but warmed up and played in the second leg of the back-to-back.
The Knicks get a much-needed day of rest before hosting the Nets in the first of consecutive NBA Cup games on Friday. It will be the first game Bridges plays his former team since the Knicks sent five first-round picks to Brooklyn to pair the three players who helped bring Villanova a championship in 2016.
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