Bulls hold on to beat Knicks

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Saturday, 04 February 2012

Author / Source : Agencies

NEW YORK, FEB 3: Derrick Rose’s Chicago Bulls edged the New York Knicks 105-102 on Thursday thanks to a balanced attack that saw five players reach double figures. Rose scored 15 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter for the Bulls, who have the best record in the Eastern Conference at 19 wins and six losses.
Rose, who also had 13 assists, helped clinch the win by making one of two free throws with 5.3 seconds left in the fourth to close out the scoring.
“I missed one (free throw) so thank God I hit one. I think we had an alright game,” he said.
Carlos Boozer and Kyle Korver each had 16 points for the Bulls, who are in the middle of a lengthy road trip. CJ Watson scored 12 points and Joakim Noah finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.
“He’s top-shelf,” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said of Rose. “He’s one of — if not — the best. You hate throwing it around, but he’s right there.”
Amare Stoudemire shot 16 of 27 from the field to finish with a game-high 34 points and Carmelo Anthony had 26 points for the Knicks, who are playing two straight games at home.
The Bulls are now 2-2 on their nine-game road trip which also takes them to Milwaukee and Boston as they try to stay ahead of the second-place Indiana Pacers. Chicago got plenty of scoring from their supporting cast even though they were without forward Luol Deng (wrist) and guard Richard Hamilton (groin) against the Knicks.
“We are nicked up a bit but guys are stepping in and doing what they have to do. It seems like we are not missing anyone out there,” Rose said.
The Knicks continue to struggle this season as they drop to 8-14 on the year.
“Every time I step on the court, they’re coming at me,” Rose said. “I love it where it’s a challenge like that. I’m not backing away from it, and I don’t want them to back away from it. It’s just ‘be on’ every night.”
“For the most part, we played extremely hard tonight,” Anthony said. “We’ve got to pat ourselves on the back for something. We can go and magnify the turnovers late in the second quarter; we still had a chance to win the basketball game.”
“He can make that shot as well as anybody,” coach Mike D’Antoni said.
Said Stoudemire: “That shot normally falls for me.”
“We always say you got to find a way, and the good teams in this league find different ways to win games,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said of his Eastern Conference leaders. “Ideally, you’d like to count on both your offence and your defence.”     AGENCIES