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 "On the first dunk, I did not have my legs," said Porzingis, the
Knicks' 7-foot-3 Latvian star rookie. "I almost missed it."
He didn't, of course. In fact, Porzingis rarely missed on a night
when he combined with Carmelo Anthony to score 54 points and lead
New York (29-43) to an upset win against Chicago (36-34).
Porzingis finished 11-for-16 from the floor, hit three of six from
behind the 3-point arc and tied his career high in points while
grabbing 10 rebounds.
"He was very aggressive from the jump," said Anthony, who returned
from missing the Sunday game with migraine headaches to score 24
points and hit four of six 3-point attempts. "He had it going
tonight. I thought we did a good job of finding him and putting him
in positions to be successful out there tonight. He made shots. He
led us out there tonight."
Anthony and Porzingis combined for 17 points in the third quarter,
when New York outscored Chicago 35-18 to extend a two-point halftime
lead into a 92-73 margin starting the fourth. The Bulls never got
closer than eight points the rest of the way.
The Knicks ended a three-game losing streak, beat the Bulls for the
second time this season and ended a nine-game skid at the United
Center. Robin Lopez had 11 points and 13 rebounds for New York,
which got double-figure scoring from Arron Afflalo (12 points), Jose
Calderon (11 points) and Derrick Williams (10 points).
Chicago fell out of the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference
after the Detroit Pistons passed them with a 118-102 win against the
Orlando Magic on Wednesday.
Nikola Mirotic tied a Bulls franchise record with nine 3-pointers
(on 13 attempts) en route to a game-high 35 points. Derrick Rose
added 21 points for Chicago, which had its three-game winning streak
snapped.
"I had a good game, but I'm not happy because we lost this really
important game at home," Mirotic said. "We had a chance to win four
games in a row, but tomorrow we have another one. We need to come
with a different mind-set, play with much more physicality and play
harder."
Taj Gibson and Aaron Brooks chipped in 10 points each for the Bulls,
who play the finale of the back-to-back set at the Knicks on
Thursday.
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"I told our guys they have two choices," Chicago coach Fred Hoiberg
said. "They can tuck their tails between their legs and walk out of
here with their head down, or they can tough it out, suck it up and
find a way to get a win (Thursday) and finish this out the right
way."
There were 16 lead changes in the first half, as New York clung to a
57-55 lead at halftime. Things changed in the third, when the Knicks
used a 13-2 run to build a 75-60 lead. They reached a level Chicago
couldn't match, shooting 13-for-21 (61.9 percent) from the field and
hitting five of seven from behind the 3-point arc. Anthony hit three
of four 3-points tries in the frame.
Chicago went 6-for-19 (31.6 percent) from the floor in the third and
2-for-7 on 3-point attempts. The Bulls battled back in the fourth,
cutting a 22-point deficit to eight, but couldn't get closer.
Porzingis and Anthony each hit big shots down the stretch to secure
the win.
NOTES: Bulls G E'Twaun Moore (left hamstring) missed his third
straight game and will not make the upcoming trip to New York and
Orlando. "Hopefully, we'll get E'Twaun back, or at least get a
better idea when we get back," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "He's
starting to jog a little bit right now, but it's tricky. It's right
in the belly of his hamstring, so we want him to be 100 percent
coming back and hopefully finishing off the year." ... Hoiberg
talked with the Iowa State men's basketball team before its game on
Friday at the United Center in the NCAA Tournament's Midwest
Regional. "I had a good talk with them," said Hoiberg, who played
for Iowa State from 1991 to 1995 and coached the Cyclones from 2010
to 2015. "The biggest thing is just letting them know how proud I am
of them. It's been a lot of fun to watch."
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