Knicks Sweep Home-and-Home Series Against Bulls

Wow! The New York Knicks ACTUALLY defeated the Chicago Bulls back-to-back in a home-and-home series!

With the Knicks winning 115-107 Wednesday night, you would have thought that the Bulls (who are desperately fighting for their Playoffs lives) would have blown New York out Thursday night… Also it was a surprising loss because it looked like the Bulls figured some things out defensively, as they almost came back from a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter the previous night. Instead Chicago continued to play poor defense.

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Wednesday night, the Bulls gave up 14 three-pointers on 56% shooting. It was more of the same Thursday night, just not as proficient. This time, New York only converted on 43.3% of their shots from beyond the arc, connecting on 13 three-pointers…

It was a shockingly appalling effort from Chicago, considering New York had just knocked them out of the Playoffs. Now with the loss Thursday night, the Bulls are 1.5 games back of the eighth-seeded Detroit Pistons. The Knicks are being MAJOR spoilers right now!

New York immediately picked up where they left off the previous night, converting on five three-pointers in the first quarter. Sasha Vujacic and Carmelo Anthony led the way, combining to score 19 of the Knicks’ 31 points in the opening period. Vujacic finally lived up to his nickname “the machine”, going a perfect 3-of-3 from downtown in the first quarter.

The Knicks led essentially the whole game (except for a brief 17 seconds in the opening quarter), but it was a fairly tight game throughout the first half. That is, until Kristaps Porzingis hit back-to-back three-pointers (including one that was Stephen Curry-lite) to end the half, which propelled the Knicks lead to 53-45 at intermission.

.@kporzee from deeeeeep. #Knicks lead by 5! #NYKvsCHI pic.twitter.com/FGOFk2ylkW
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 25, 2016

Both teams would basically exchange baskets during the third quarter, then Arron Afflalo scored three-straight baskets to end the quarter, giving the Knicks a 80-65 lead entering the final period of play. Afflalo scored nine of his total 11 points in the third quarter, including a buzzer-beater to end the period!

Review (Callahan): if Afflalo’s made FG was released before time expired, Q3, #CHIatNYK. Ruling: Upheld, shot counts https://t.co/H6wSlGdGf7
— NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) March 25, 2016

In the fourth quarter the Bulls put up a little bit of a fight with Derrick Rose scoring ten of his game-high 30 points in the final period, but it was not enough, as Chicago continued to flounder on defense. The Bulls allowed the Knicks to shoot 61.1% in the fourth quarter… allowing multiple alley-opps by Derrick Williams, including a 3/4 court pass from Jose Calderon! I WANT TO SEE A FULL-COURT ALLEY-OPP NEXT!