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Not bad for someone who couldn't practice the day before the
game and had been in a walking boot one day before that
following a right foot contusion in the Knicks' previous
contest.
"I don't want to give anyone the notion that I'm healthy, but I
just didn't want to take today off," Brunson said. "Me as a
leader, if I'm able to walk and I'm able to play, I've got to
bring it."
Brunson and the Knicks will aim to keep doing just that on
Friday, as they meet the host Bulls again while seeking their
sixth straight victory.
Julius Randle paced New York with a double-double of 31 points
and 13 rebounds in the first leg of the back-to-back with the
Bulls. It was Randle's third 30-point game in the past four as
he continues to form an effective one-two punch with Brunson.
A two-time Illinois high school player of the year who starred
at Stevenson in north suburban Chicago, Brunson navigated the
pain to produce his fourth 30-point game of the season while
adding seven assists.
"It says a lot about him. It's everything," Knicks coach Tom
Thibodeau said. "Coming in, (getting) multiple treatments every
day. That becomes his game, it becomes his practice. He's been
through so many different things. He has a strategy for
everything. He just gets out there and gets it done."
Chicago lost for the second straight game and the fifth time in
its past seven. The Bulls rallied from a 14-point, first-half
deficit to force overtime but couldn't keep a three-game home
winning streak intact.
The Bulls fell to 0-3 in overtime games this season, with two of
those defeats coming in consecutive contests.
Chicago finished 1-for-7 from the field in OT en route to losing
by eight points.
"It's disappointing. We're competitive guys. We wouldn't be here
if we weren't," Chicago guard Alex Caruso said. "Nobody likes
losing. Anytime you don't get the job done, no matter if it's
Game 1 or Game 82, you're a little disappointed and a little
hurt."
The Bulls produced five double-figure scorers while shooting
54.8 percent from the floor. Usual suspects DeMar DeRozan (32
points) and Zach LaVine (25) offered the scoring punch, and
Nikola Vucevic contributed 19 points, seven rebounds and five
assists.
Still, the Bulls faltered down the stretch, falling to an
NBA-low 3-11 in games within five points with five minutes or
less remaining in regulation.
Chicago's Patrick Williams feels the Bulls can learn from these
shortcomings, but only if they're willing to put in the work.
"It only pays off if you make it pay off," Williams said.
"That's how I view it. That's how we all view it. It's not just
gonna pay off because we want to. We have to look at the film
and get better at the things that we see in the game that are
causing us to lose these games."
--Field Level Media
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