According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, the Chicago Bulls have made an inquiry about Nate Robinson.

Other teams who have made inquiries are the Blazers, where Robinson is beloved by Nate McMillan and Brandon Roy, Miami and the Bulls, who are in need of bench scoring after Ben Gordon’s defection to Detroit.

I don’t think the Bulls are serious about Nate Robinson, and would not expect them to get him. He is only 5′9″, and we’ve seen how the Bulls treat short scorers. Robinson’s price tag would also push the Bulls into the luxury tax, something they seem unwilling to do.

However, in the unlikely case that the Bulls would be willing to go into the luxury tax to sign Robinson, he would be a good signing at this point. He averaged 17.2 points per a game last year, and would provide the Bulls with some much needed scoring in the wake of Ben Gordon leaving.

The New York Knicks coughed up a fourth quarter lead allowing the Chicago Bulls to escape with a 110 to 103 victory at the United Center tonight.

The Knicks led the Bulls 90 to 85 with 9:23 left in the fourth, but the Bulls started pouring in the points, at one point taking a 10 point lead with 5:16 remaining, 100 to 90.

Of course, the Bulls would let the Knicks back into the game. The Knicks got within one when Wilson Chandler sank a desperation three with 22 seconds left in the game to make it 104 to 103. But the Knicks let Ben Gordon get open, and the Knicks were forced to foul. Gordon then made both free throws to give the Bulls a 106 to 103 lead.

The Knicks needed a three in order to tie the game and bring it into overtime. They ended up with the ball in Quentin Richardson’s hands on the left wing, with Tyrus Thomas guarding him. Thomas bit, came down, but was able to block Richardson’s shot on his second jump. The Bulls cruised to victory from there on out.

Kirk Hinrich was just tremendous tonight. He finished with 25 points and 3 steals. He was making some difficult shots when the Bulls needed them, and had some big steals at the time when the Bulls were opening up the big 10 point lead.

The Bulls also got a big performance from John Salmons, who finished with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 steals. He was probably the best Bull tonight. His steals, like Hinrich’s, were huge.

Ben Gordon was solid tonight, finishing with 17 points and 5 rebounds on 6-15 shooting. His shot was a little shaky tonight, his wrist injury is probably bothering his shot a little. 2 of his misses were late in the game though, after sitting almost the entire fourth quarter and being brought in for the last minute or so. He might have just missed those two shots because he was out of the game so long.

Derrick Rose finished with 18 points an 7 assists. Rose really didn’t have that good of a game today. He didn’t score the ball very efficiently and had some sloppy turnovers.

Tyrus Thomas had a pretty good game tonight finishing with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 steals. I didn’t think Thomas had a good game from start to finish, but he played well for most of it, with just a few dumbfounding moments sprinkled in. He came up huge in the clutch with two big blocks.

Wilson Chandler led the Knicks in scoring with 26 points. Al Harrington had 23 points. These were the two Knicks that looked really good offensively, but that might have just been because the Bulls played smallish, and were at a matchup disadvantage against these two guys.

David Lee had 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 6 assists.

Nate Robinson had a poor night, scoring 6 points on 2-9 shooting.

I think one big reason for why the game was so close was because Brad Miller missed so many short ones. He finished with 6 points on 1-10 shooting. If Miller puts in a few more of those close ones, this isn’t as close of a game. However, Miller did grab 12 rebounds.

With the win, the Bulls improve to 38-40 on the season, and move a half game ahead of Detroit for the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference.

Closing Comments

Tonight was a win for the Bulls and that’s good enough for me. It was sloppy, but they got the job done. I don’t think it is really wise to try to draw too many conclusions from a game like this, so I won’t try to. The Knicks are one of those teams that can sloppy up a game, and that’s exactly what happened tonight.

The Bulls playoff chances are much improved after tonight. The Bobcats won, but so did the Bulls, so the Bulls magic number to make the playoffs is down to 2. That means that if the Bulls beat the Bobcats on Sunday, they will be in the playoffs.

Go Bulls!

According to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks are discussing a trade that would send Larry Hughes to the Knicks in exchange for Malik Rose. Jerome James or Nate Robinson could also be involved in the trade, as well as David Lee if the Bulls were willing to part with Tyrus Thomas or Joakim Noah.

The Knicks are in talks with the Chicago Bulls about a deal for shooting guard Larry Hughes, whose contract expires in two summers.

Malik Rose’s expiring contract is being dangled in a potential deal but the Knicks would have to include another player to make the deal satisfy salary cap restrictions. The Knicks would gladly include Jerome James, who is coming off Achilles surgery and may never play again. James’ contract also expires after next season.

There is a possibility that Nate Robinson could be included in the deal since Robinson is set to become a restricted free agent on July 1. The fans may not want to see the popular Robinson traded but the team president Donnie Walsh has made it known that his plan is to sign two All-Star caliber free agents by 2010.

The only way David Lee would be included in a deal for Hughes is if the Bulls include either Tyrus Thomas or Joakim Noah, who may be expendable now that Chicago has acquired Brad Miller from Sacramento.

Why are the Knicks willing to trade for Larry Hughes? The Knicks are likely looking at a potential trade for Larry Hughes because they realize he has a lot of offensive talent that has not been focused in his career, and they think they could bring his offense to its full potential in D’Antoni’s system. Hughes’ contract expires after next season, so it will not interfere with the Knicks’ 2010 plans.

This would be a great trade for the Bulls. The Bulls would get rid of Larry Hughes, who no longer players, and they would do it, getting some relief for next season by getting Malik Rose’s expiring contract. By unloading some salary off the cap with this trade, the Bulls will have more room to maneuver when trying re-signing Ben Gordon this summer.

This is a good trade, and I hope to see it go through tomorrow.

Tyrus Thomas said that he wanted to stay in Chicago in a blog entry that he wrote on Mouthpiecesports.com. Here is what Tyrus wrote:

Although I didn’t attend All-Star Weekend this year, I’ve been watching the festivities. And first I have to say, CHI-TOWN STAND UP!!!! I know you all seen my man D-Rose bring home the crown in the skills competition. Congratulations Rook!

Man, the slam dunk contest was crazy! JR and Fernandez did some impressive dunks, but Nate and Dwight had the crowd into it. I loved the whole kryptonite deal by Nate.

Now, I know everybody wants to know about the trade rumors. But I must say, I honestly want to stay in Chicago. I love my teammates, my organization and this beautiful city. However, this situation is beyond my control. Hopefully on the 19th I’m still a Bull. Keep your fingers crossed for me y’all!

Gone,

Tyrus

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.