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!

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.