Chicago Bulls defeat New York Knicks 103-90 for eighth straight win - NBA Recap (Part 1)
The Eastern Conference Champions, Chicago Bulls, won their eighth straight game by edging past the New York Knicks 103-90 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.
The result marked the Bulls 13th consecutive victory over the top four teams in both National Basketball Association (NBA) conferences. During that run, Bulls guard Derrick Rose was flying high as he averaged 28.08 points, 8.1 assists, 3.6 rebounds
and 1.0 steals per game. It will be an encouraging sign for Chicago to see Rose performing so well against the leading teams of the NBA. It was also the Bulls 61st win of the 2010-11 season.
The victory snapped the seven-game winning streak of the Knicks, who are in sixth position in the Eastern Conference standings with 42 victories.
The red-hot Bulls still have an opportunity to clinch the NBA’s best record for the season. They are currently tied with Western Conference Champions, the San Antonio Spurs, with 61 victories this season. Both teams play their last games of the current season
on Wednesday night. The Bulls face the lowly New Jersey Nets in Chicago while the Spurs face the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Centre.
If the Bulls win and San Antonio drop their respective games, the Bulls would clinch the league's overall best record.
Bulls’ forward Joakim Noah was excited about the current position of the team and was quite confident about the playoff battle. He said, “That is something special. It is definitely something that we want, but we have to look at the bigger picture. For us
it is all about improvement and just focusing on the next opponent and the results will take care of themselves."
Rose, Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer were instrumental down the stretch as they combined for 63 points and 32 rebounds for Chicago. The MVP favourite, Rose, was impressive on the night as he scored a game-high 26 points. In addition to that, he scored seven
answered points to open the second half.
Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni praised Rose' performance. He said, "Rose is amazing. His athletic ability is ridiculous. He's come farther, quicker, faster than anyone expected. He's playing at a level that not many people play."
Forward Luol Deng has been brilliant over the past few games and managed 23 points and 10 rebounds in the victory. Deng did most of his damage on drives to the basket, making 9 of 16 shots from the field, including six straight in the third quarter.
Carlos Boozer was brilliant on the defensive glass, collecting a season-high 22 rebounds. He got more space to operate on the low block and contributed 14 points, four assists and a block for the victors.
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