The Chicago Bulls were responsible for snapping the Miami Heat's historic winning streak at 27 games, seven shy of the all-time record held by the 1971-1972 Los Angeles Lakers. Thursday night, the Bulls established their streak-ending proficiency, taking down the Knicks and their 13-game run in a 118-111 overtime victory.
Nate Robinson dropped a season-high 35 points off the bench on his former team in 32 minutes of play, hitting 10-of-18 shots from the field and 5-of-11 from 3-point land.
Robinson downplayed the ending of yet another extended winning streak, and said the Bulls are just focusing on themselves. ''For us, we're not focused on stopping streaks. 'We're just trying to get better as a team going into the playoffs.''
Chicago trailed by as many as 17 points in this game, and were down 79-64 in the third quarter, but looked to wear down the shorthanded Knicks as time went on. Only eight players saw game action, as the Knicks rested several of their battered bigs in an effort to keep them healthy for the postseason. Tyson Chandler, Kenyon Martin and Marcus Camby all sat with varying maladies.
Carmelo Anthony continued his scorching hot play Thursday night, pouring in 36 points on 13-of-34 shooting and grabbing 19 rebounds to go with all those buckets. He missed a game-winner in the fourth quarter after getting a fairly clean look.
Knicks coach Mike Woodson didn't seem overly perturbed by the loss of the streak or Anthony's late miss. ''It would have been nice if Melo knocks down that shot,'' Woodson said. ''We could have walked out of here with a win. It didn't happen.'' As for the streak ending, Woodson said, ''It's over with. You can't win them all.''
The win dropped New York's record to 0-4 this season against the Bulls, although that may not be too big of a deal for the blue and orange. The Knicks have a comfortable lead over the Indiana Pacers for the No. 2 seed in the East, while the Bulls figure to finish in fifth. Therefore, the Knicks would not meet the Bulls until the Eastern Conference Finals, and the Bulls would have to defeat the Miami Heat to get there.
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