Just a day after blowing a 35 point lead, the Bulls attempted a daring comeback of their own, whittling a once 22 point Knicks lead down to one point with 1:41 remaining in the game.

The Bulls comeback, unlike the Kings, came up short, and the Bulls lost the game 88-81.

The Bulls had their opportunities down the stretch, but once again failed to come up in clutch situations.

First, with the Bulls down three, Kirk Hinrich ignored the inbound play called by Vinny Del Negro, instead attempting an idiotic alleyoop to Joakim Noah, but the Bulls got the ball back.

Derrick Rose then bounced a pass that was meant for Taj Gibson out of bounds. It was a good idea for the Bulls to get a score, as Taj Gibson was standing there wide open. The problem of course is that Gibson is a string bean who can’t hold position in the post, which forced Rose to do a bounce pass (which Gibson wasn’t able to catch for whatever reason) instead of a regular pass for the easy dunk.

Even then, I don’t like the idea of passing it into Gibson at that point in the game. At that point, the Bulls were down by 3 points with 29.8 seconds left. The score would have been quick, and would have allowed the Bulls to go for the stop, and try to get the win with a one point game instead of playing the foul game, but the Bulls still would have had to score once more, likely with only a few seconds left, as the Knicks probably would have burned down the clock. You have to play to tie the game in situations like this, not to put yourself down 1.

Of course early on, it didn’t look like the Bulls were even going to be in late game pressure situations, as they were getting blown out early. But Derrick Rose led a comeback, scoring 16 points in the third quarter. Rose finished the game with 26 points.

Once Rose got the comeback started, Deng helped out a bit, getting going himself. Deng finished with 23 points on the game, although he took 23 shots to do it.

The Bulls defense was fine in the second half of this game, holding New York to only 35 points. But the Bulls continue to lose because they cannot score the ball.

Everyone in this game, except Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson, had poor scoring efficiencies. When only 34 of your team’s points are coming from efficient scoring, you’re offense is going to be terrible, as the Bulls offense was last night, and you are going to lose a lot of games, as the Bulls have been doing all season long.

The game saw some big rebounding numbers from Joakim Noah and David Lee. Noah finished the game with 10 points and 21 rebounds. Noah struggled scoring the ball, going 4-13 from the field.

However, David Lee outplayed Noah, finishing with 18 points and 21 rebounds. Lee hit the shot to put the Knicks up five points with 5 seconds remaining in the game.

John Salmons and Kirk Hinrich continued their poor play. Salmons finished with 7 points on 2-9 shooting, and Hinrich finished with 5 points on 2-7 shooting.

Del Negro actually decided to bench John Salmons and Brad Miller to start the third quarter. Both players have played horribly for the entire season.

Danilo Gallinari finished the game with 11 points on 2-13 shooting, but also had 3 blocks. I think Gallinari is a guy that a 2010 free agent like Lebron might want to play next to. He seems like a good fit next to a ball dominant player because of his ability to make the three point shot.

Al Harrington gave the Knicks 20 points off the bench, and Wilson Chandler added 16 points. Jared Jefferies finished the game with 10 points.

With the loss, the Bulls fall to 10-17 on the season.

According to Sam Smith, the trade rumors that would have Tyrus Thomas being sent to the New York Knicks in exchange for Al Harrington have died down.

Well, that was a fun week with the Tyrus Thomas/Al Harrington rumor. Just about everyone on both sides seems to have thrown cold water on it as more speculation than reality. It does make some theoretical sense as the Bulls need scoring badly as they rank just barely ahead of the Nets at the bottom of the league. Are we talking shootout at the UC Tuesday? And the Knicks, well, who knows what they need. Harrington pretty much has gone off on a scoring spree since the rumored appeared, averaging 26.5 points and 9.5 rebounds and telling Knicks reporters that being mentioned in trade with a guy with a broken arm is like being offered for “a bag of balls.”

This trade never seemed to make sense from the Knicks’ perspective. While Al Harrington isn’t in their plans past this season, it is hard to seeing Thomas being in their plans past this season as well, as it would seem they could sign better players, such as their own David Lee, with the remainder of their 2010 cap space after they sign their max free agent.

If you are only keeping either player for one year, Al Harrington is the much better option. He is averaging 20.1 points per a game, and he is doing it on an efficient 57.1 TS%.

The trade would obviously be incredible for the Bulls. They would improve their near league worst offense, by adding an efficient 20 points per game scorer. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the Knicks are going to gift the Bulls Al Harrington, so the Bulls will need to find some other way to improve their pathetic offense.

The Chicago Bulls fell to the New York Knicks 102 to 98 as they failed to close out the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

The Bulls were plagued with selfishness down the stretch. With the Bulls down one, Derrick Rose took a contested layup, ignoring the wide open Ben Gordon in the corner. The next play down, the Bulls called Gordon’s number to try to tie it with a three, but Gordon ended up taking an awkward fall away three in which he didn’t quite have his legs under him, making the shot fall short.

The Bulls defense was horrific, with one exception, Tyrus Thomas. Tyrus Thomas had a really nice game, putting up 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks. He altered a lot of shots, rebounded well, and put the ball in the basket. He had 5 turnovers, but it was still a very good game from Thomas.

Derrick Rose had a decent game, finishing with 20 points and 8 assists. The game was a story of two halves for Rose. In the first half, he looked good because he was making his jumpshot. In the second half, he had difficulty making his jumpshot, and really took the Bulls out of the game with his jumpshots.

One thing is clear, while the Bulls play has improved, one major problem still remains, and that is the coaching of Vinny Del Negro. Vinny Del Negro sat Gordon almost the entire fourth quarter, to bring him in with 31 seconds left in the game, asking Gordon to save the Bulls. Players who sit for entire quarters don’t usually come in and hit big shots.

Del Negro needs to not only read the scouting report on the other team, but also on his own team. Ben Gordon is a big time fourth quarter player. Kirk Hinrich was one of the worst clutch players in the NBA last season, and for most of his career. As would be expected if one were to read the scouting report of the Bulls in the clutch, Kirk Hinrich missed all three of his fourth quarter shots, and missed a free throw with 1:10 left in the game, and the Bulls tied at 97.

This isn’t to say that Ben Gordon by any means would have saved the day. He was quite awful today, but we have seen so many times, Gordon be awful for the first three quarters, catch fire in the fourth, and win us the game.

As aforementioned, Ben Gordon was terrible today. Defensively he struggled guarding Quentin Richardson in the post. Most of the time, the complaint about Gordon being abused in the post is a machination of the imagination, but today it was reality. Offensively, Gordon had some nice passes, and did all the right things, his shot just wasn’t falling, as he shot 3-15. It looks like Gordon is in his usual winter slump. Gordon finished the game with 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.

For those who threw out the idea of ditching Gordon after the Bulls two game winning streak after Hinrich returned are clearly in the wrong. The Bulls really need Ben Gordon, and today is a perfect example why. Today, the Bulls got good games out of Hinrich, Deng, and Thomas, and a decent game out of Rose, yet they still loss. If Gordon was making his shots as usual, the Bulls would have easily won this. Once Gordon breaks out of his mini slump, given the level of play of the other Bulls, the Bulls should start winning a lot of games.

Luol Deng put in another strong showing, pouring in 20 pouints and grabbing 10 rebounds for the double double. It would be interesting to find out what happened with Deng, because Kirk Hinrich’s return isn’t a very good explanation. The most obvious answer, would be that John Paxson threatened to trade Deng from the team he loves if his play didn’t improve. Deng is back to vintage 06-07 Deng, and with that, the Bulls are a much better team.

Joakim Noah dominated the glass, grabbing 18 rebounds. Noah had 3 blocks to go along with his rebounds. Noah was a positive force inside tonight.

Kirk Hinrich had a nice 13 points and 7 assists off the bench. His defense was a big step down from his previous four outings.

Quentin Richardson had 24 points in the game. He took advantage of Gordon in the post from time to time, and was on fire from three, shooting 5 for 6.

The former Bull, Chris Duhon was great today. Duhon finished with 19 points in the game. Duhon was clutch, and key in the Knicks victory. Duhon hit the go ahead basket with 31 seconds left in the game, and then expanded the Knicks lead to three with two free throws.

David Lee scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. He shot a horrible 3-14, likely the result of an ankle injury he incurred early in the game.

Nate Robinson added in 12 points, Al Harrington had 11, and the rookie, Danilo Gallinari had 9 points.

Andres Nocioni and Drew Gooden were bad today. Nocioni shot 1 for 9, and Drew Gooden shot 1 for 5.

With the loss, the Bulls fall to 18-24 on the season.

The Chicago Bulls defeated the New York Knicks 105 to 100 at the United Center tonight. This was Vinny Del Negro’s first game against his former co-worker, Mike D’Antoni.

The game was close most of the way, with the Knicks leading the Bulls late in the fourth. With the game tied 97 to 97 Larry Hughes sank a three point shot to give the Bulls a 100 to 97 lead. Larry Hughes than got a key offensive rebound the next time down the court. The Bulls called a timeout, and Hughes got it to Gooden who was fouled. Gooden sank 2 free throws to give the Bulls a 5 point lead and clinch the game.

The two former Cavaliers were instrumental in this win. Larry Hughes had 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 steals, but reverted to some of his old poor shot selection habits. Hughes was key down the stretch of the game, grabbing big rebounds and hitting big shots. Drew Gooden finished with 22 points and 16 rebounds, chewing up New York’s weak interior defense.

Former Bull Chris Duhon was great tonight, scoring 15 points and 14 assists. Duhon had 9 rebounds and was a rebound short of the triple double. Duhon managed the Knicks offense well and penetrated at will. Duhon also frustrated Gordon when Duhon guarded him.

Ben Gordon had a cold shooting tonight. Gordon finished with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals, but shot 6 of 18. It is an obligation to say this. Ben Gordon has been great with his midrange game this year. He has been good driving the ball, he has passed well, and played great defense. But Ben Gordon is missing too many of his three point shots. Ben Gordon absolutely needs to get his act together from behind the three point line. Ben Gordon is playing really good right now, but his three point shot is what makes him a very deadly player.

Derrick Rose just had a solid game tonight, scoring 15 points and 7 assists. His defense on Duhon wasn’t particularly good for most of the game, but he stepped it up in the fourth quarter, forcing Duhon to miss on some layup attempts.

Luol Deng had another solid game, finishing with 16 points and 8 rebounds. It is nice to see Deng being productive when on the court.

Quentin Richardson had 22 points for the Knicks. Joakim Noah finished the game with 4 blocks.

Tyrus Thomas received a DNP - Coach’s Decision.

Al Harrington was the Knick’s best player tonight, finishing with 28 points. The Bulls interior defense was as usual, non-existent. What was really frustrating was seeing D’Antoni force the Bulls to switch at will. Al Harrington was able to frequently take advantage of Ben Gordon and Derrick Rose in the low post.

The vice president elect, Joe Biden, was in attendance for the game. He watched the game with David Axelrod and Steve Schanwald, who delivered the Bulls the number one pick in the 2008 NBA Draft Lottery.

Late in the game, Stacey King accused Neil Funk of not being able to properly see and accused Funk of seeing things. This is consistent with a complaint from Bulls fans that Neil Funk constantly calls the game wrong, mistaking players for other players.

With the win, the Bulls improve their record to 10-11. The Bulls are currently occupying the 8th seed in the East and are 1 1/2 games behind Detroit for the 7th seed.

Chicago Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro and forward Larry Hughes preview Tuesday night’s match-up versus the New York Knicks.

Victor Bellan of rumorpress.net, a Chicago Bulls insider recently answered some questions from Bulls fans.

Here are the main points from the Q&A:

• The Bulls very likely will make a trade, although closer to the deadline.
• Vinny is playing Hughes for two reasons.  1. He feels Hughes can contribute.  2.  Him and Paxson are afraid benching Hughes could create a distraction for the team.
• The Washington Wizards were mildly interested in Hughes.  The Bulls would love to trade him to Washington.
• The Bulls have shown interest in Al Harrington, Zach Randolph, and Chris Kaman.  The Bulls would love to trade for Kaman, but the Clippers don’t want what the Bulls have to offer.
• Bulls feel their best chance at landing a 2010 free agent is Dwyane Wade.

You can view the entire Q&A at rumorpress.net

According to theKnicksblog.com, the Bulls and Warriors were close on pulling the trigger on a trade that would have sent Kirk Hinrich to the Warriors in exchange for Al Harrington.

A source has told TKB that the Warriors and Bulls were getting ready to pull the trigger on a Kirk Hinrich-Al Harrington swap earlier this month right before the Bulls guard suffered an injury to his thumb. Hinrich damaged ligaments to his thumb in a win against Phoenix a few weeks ago and required surgery. He will be sidelined for up to 3 months.

The Warriors then went into a stalemate with Harrington until trading him to the Knicks on Friday for Jamal Crawford. Harrington told reporters he wanted to be dealt to New York “back in April.”

Hinrich would have fit a bigger need for the Warriors at point guard, but the combination of Harrington’s hold out and Hinrich’s injury forced them into going after Crawford, who Donnie Walsh resisted on trading before okaying a deal after Crawford’s poor performance in Boston last week.

The source assured TKB that if Hinrich stayed healthy he would have been dealt to Golden State for Harrington and the Knicks would have had to keep Crawford.

This is a real shame that this trade did not go through. Harrington would have given us some solid big man contributions for the next two years. Harrington is not anywhere close to being a star, but he is a competent NBA level big man, which is more than you can say about Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah. He would have made the Bulls a substantially better team this year.

Also, Al Harrington’s contract expires before 2010 and would have allowed us to become a player in the 2010 free agency.

The good news from this is that it appears that the Bulls are ready to move on, in a new direction, away from Kirk Hinrich. This is a barrier that the Bulls have had so much trouble with as Hinrich should have been traded away as soon as we drafted Derrick Rose, regardless of how the Gordon situation turned out. Hopefully the Bulls will be able to find a suitor for Hinrich when he comes back from his injury in February.

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