RJ Barrett and the Knicks throw the Bulls into doubt

After their successful “road-trip”, marked by three victories in as many matches, the Knicks, still in the running to qualify for the “play-in”, return to Madison Square Garden to face the Bulls not at their best at the moment (4 wins in the last 10 matches).

The start of the game turns quickly in favor of the Bulls, who unfold in the first quarter (8 assists for 12 baskets), like a sharp Zach LaVine (9 points), against a disorderly Knicks in defense and clumsy in attack. Stunned, Tom Thibodeau’s troupe can fortunately count on the remarkable entries of Immanuel Quickley and Miles McBride, who finally limit the breakage after 12 minutes (28-24).

But DeMar DeRozan is aggressive at the start of the second quarter, and in their momentum, the Bulls sign the first break of the meeting (37-25). Not for long, since the Knicks respond immediately, after a necessary time-out. The locals raise their tone in defense, and finally find rhythm in attack: RJ Barrett effectively attacks the circle, Obi Toppin sanctions twice behind the arc. Then, to punctuate this good momentum, Alec Burks (10 consecutive points, 14 at halftime) takes care of placing the Knicks in the lead just before the break (53-50).

The Knicks get back on their feet when they return from the locker room, notably like an unleashed RJ Barrett, who scores two shots with the fault in a row to give the Knicks a 13-point advantage after only 3 minutes (65-52) . New York can also count on Alec Burks, who is continuing his work (10 points in the 3rd quarter), and on a Mitchell Robinson in the oven and at the mill (14 points, 10 rebounds). But this meeting is decidedly made of twists, and the Bulls, through LaVine and DeRozan, revive. The set is laborious (5/19 on shots), but Chicago remains within reasonable reach of New York after 36 minutes (81-75).

The last quarter boiled down to a duel between the two strong men of the evening, DeMar DeRozan (who reached the 30-point mark for the 25th time this season) and RJ Barrett. Under the impetus of their leader, the Bulls even pick up at -3 (99-96) 4 minutes from the end of the match, against the somewhat feverish Knicks. Nothing alarming however for the troupe of Tom Thibodeau, who after a significant time-out resumed their march the year before. Thanks to the free throws of RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley at first, then thanks to a final decisive award-winning shot in the corner of Alec Burks. New York won for the 4th time in a row (109-104), when Chicago did not yet emerge from its bad dynamic.

WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER

– 27 years ago, Michael Jordan’s “Double-Nickel”. On March 28, 1995, when he had just announced his return to the courts, Michael Jordan delivered one of his greatest career performances on the floor of Madison Square Garden. The famous “Double-Nickel Game”, during which he charred the defense of New York: 55 points at 21/37 on shots, and the victory as a bonus. It’s hard to know if this is a voluntary wink or not from the NBA, but the Knicks and the Bulls therefore faced each other on the same date…

– No 4th quarter for Julius Randle. The interior of the Knicks came out at the end of the 3rd quarter, and only came back into play… only 3 minutes from the final buzzer! In difficulty during the match, he was left on the bench at the end of the game, in favor of Obi Toppin who offered very good minutes in the 4th quarter.

TOPS/FLOPS

✅ DeMar DeRozan & Zach LaVine. Great game for the Chicago All-Star duo, even though they seemed to fight on their own at times. The two players took turns in attack throughout the evening, and compiled 64 points (out of 104) at 20/43 on shots. Insufficient to win the Bulls, for whom the current bad patch continues.

✅ RJ Barrett. With 28 points (10/24), 6 rebounds and 3 assists, the young outside of the Knicks was the strong man of his team’s success. While Julius Randle was struggling, “StaRJ” took care of everything and made Madison Square Garden roar several times by his “drives” towards the circle. The Canadian is becoming more and more the boss of the Knicks attack.

✅ Alec Burks. Not always satisfactory in the Knicks’ five major, he did the job against the Bulls. More than that, he was even a major element in the victory of his formation: the former Jazz compiled 27 points (5/10 at three-pointers), 6 rebounds and 3 assists, including the shot at 3- decisive points that secured the victory for New York in the last minute. Like the day before against Detroit.

⛔️ Julius Randle. Tough evening for the 2021 All-Star, who was ghostly on offense: 5 points at 1/9 on shots. It limits the damage with its excellent rebound activity (13 shots), but the whole leaves much to be desired. Especially since his lining Obi Toppin signed one of his performances of the season in his place (17 points at 6/11).

⛔️ Evan Fournier. Fluctuating this season, the Frenchman was having a (very) bad evening: 5 points at 2/10, including 1/8 behind the arc. An evening to quickly forget for the back, whose importance in the Knicks system is mainly based on its external address.

⛔️ The Bulls bench. While Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan scored 64 of Chicago’s 104 points, the bench was missing: only 11 points scored! This is probably what the Bulls lacked to make the difference, knowing that the Knicks bench brought him 28 points. In a match where the final gap is 5 points, this certainly had an important effect.

THE FOLLOWING

New York (34-42) : Wednesday, at home against Charlotte

Chicago (43-32) : « back-to-back » à Washington