Carmelo Anthony scores 43 points as New York Knicks edge Chicago Bulls 100-99 in O.T - NBA Recap
Carmelo Anthony scored a match winner as the New York Knicks held off the Chicago Bulls 100-99 in overtime at the Madison Square Garden on Sunday night, making it the Bulls third loss in four games.
Derrick Rose announced on Saturday that he planned to comeback against the Knicks, having missed the last 12 games, due to groin injury. The reigning MVP of the league did return to action in what could be the preview of the first
round of the playoffs. These two teams could face each other in the first round if the current standings remain intact.
Carmelo Anthony, who seems to be enjoying life under the new interim coach (Mike Woodson), has averaged 27.6 points in the last five games. Anthony had another spectacular night as he notched up a season high performance of 43
points. Iman Shumpert lent a helping hand with 15 points while J.R. Smith came off the bench to score 14 points with 6 of those coming from beyond the arc.
In his comeback game, Derrick Rose struggled early. He shot 1-6 for 7 points in the first half and 7-20 in the second half for 22 points, ending the night with 29 points. Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng chipped in with 13 each while
Joakim Noah added 10 points for the Bulls. Taj Gibson also played well for 11 points, coming off the bench.
New York Knicks who have a playoff spot to hold on to could not risk getting a slow start to the game. Anthony made sure of that by getting 7 points inside the opening 3 minutes as the Knicks raced to a 9-0 lead. Early in the game,
the Bulls looked in all kinds of trouble as they took a hammering from their hosts in the first period, 31-19.
In the second quarter, the Bulls did seem to offer some resistance as they tried to comeback from a 21 point deficit. They were able to cut the lead back down to 8 points at the halfway stage.
In the second half though, Chicago completely turned the game around on its ahead. They started the third quarter on a 7-2 run to get back within striking distance.
Bulls did some excellent work defence throughout the period as they outscored the Knicks 30-19 and finally got their noses in front late in the third. Chicago was leading for the most part of the fourth quarter as the game went
to the wire in the closing stages.
With 2:29 remaining in regulation, New York was trailing the Bulls 86-91. After a series of missed shots by both teams, with 48.0 seconds remaining in the game, Carmelo successfully drove to the basket to pull the Knicks within
3 point. Chicago had the chance to win the game but they seemed unable to connect on their free throws as Deng and Rose missed two free throws each, in the closing seconds of the game.
With Chicago failing to put the game beyond the Knicks reach, Anthony made the most of it by hitting a game tying three pointer with 11.2 seconds remaining to send this one to overtime.
In overtime, the Bulls held an early advantage as they looked to make up for their mistakes. With 2:51 remaining, the Bulls were ahead by 4. However from the Knicks side, Anthony was not letting up as he first drove the ball for
a layup with 1:04 minutes remaining and then hit a three pointer with 8.2 seconds left to help the Knicks get ahead by 1 point.
Derrick Rose had the ball his hand for the final seconds and he drove to basket, but returned unsuccessful in his cause as the Knicks held on for a close win against the Bulls.
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