Luol Deng lifted the Chicago Bulls over the New York Knicks 108-101 to register their third win over the Knicks in the current season.
Deng scored a season-high 33 points and chipped in five rebounds against the Knicks, making 13 out of 18 attempts from the field. Carlos Boozer added 17 points and grabbed six rebounds and Richard Hamilton contributed with 14 points. Marco Belinelli and Taj Gibson scored 12 points apiece for the Bulls.
"I think it was a big game. A lot of people watching and everybody was saying the Knicks were going to get revenge for what happened last time, nah, nah, nah," the Associated Press quoted the Bulls' Joakim Noah as saying. "And we came back, held it down again."
The Chicago defense tried its best to contain Carmelo Anthony, but still could not stop him from scoring 39 points for New York. Anthony also had eight rebounds, five assists in 14 out of 32 shooting.
In the absence of Raymond Felton, Marcus Camby and Rasheed Wallace, the Knicks do not seem as competitive as they used to be in the beginning of the season, but Anthony was hopeful the team would perform better to win the next game.
"We definitely don't want to lose. We've got to bounce back, take it one day at a time, one game at a time," Anthony said. "Sunday is our next game, New Orleans, and that's a game that we have to go get. It's a must-win."
For the Knicks, J.R. Smith added 13 points making a mere 4 out of 17 attempts from the field. Pablo Prigioni had 12 points and eight assists and James White finished with 11 points. Tyson Chandler contributed 9 points and 18 rebounds, but could not avoid the Knicks' fifth loss in seven games.
Chicago scored the first five points of the game and their defense did not allow the Knicks offense to score freely. The Bulls easily outshined New York 29-18 in the first quarter and again dominated the second period to outscore New York 28-18 to enter the second half with a huge 57-36 lead.
Anthony could not do much in the first half as he missed 10 of his 14 shots.
The Knicks resisted in the third quarter, but were still outscored by the Bulls 25-24.
The Bulls entered the fourth quarter with an 82-60 lead and victory seemed very near, but the Knicks rallied behind Steve Novak and Anthony in the last quarter to make the game close.
Novak and Anthony shot consecutive shots from beyond the 3-point arc to cut the Bulls lead to 103-96 with 1:07 left in the game, but Chicago's Marco Belinelli's five free throws gave the Bulls a seven-point victory over the Knicks.
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