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.

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.