Knicks Show Fight, Fall Short in Chicago

By | 2016-10-28T19:24:36-08:00 December 19th, 2014|News|Comments Off on Knicks Show Fight, Fall Short in Chicago

Derek Fisher’s New York Knicks played another tight game with a championship contender on Thursday night, but once again, New York came up just short of a signature win.

Despite the absence of star Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks hung tight with the Chicago Bulls from wire-to-wire, never trailed by more than 11 points, and even pulled within one with a minute to play in Chicago.

But without Anthony, Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith, New York couldn’t get that last shot they needed to pull even, and ultimately fell 103-97.

“We’re proud of the effort even though we came up short,” Coach Fisher said afterward. “It was great to see. I don’t necessarily think we haven’t seen it though. Tonight they played to win and that’s what we have to do every night, regardless of who has the uniform on, give that type of effort. I thought they were committed to each other no matter what happened out there. The Bulls made a run and

[we] still just found ways to keep coming back as a team. Even though we didn’t win, those are things we can build on.”

Though they fell short of orchestrating an improbable comeback, the Knicks (5-23) did not look like a team tallying their 23rd loss in 28 games. Though the team’s injuries are mounting fast and becoming more and more difficult to overcome, and they continue to lack consistency on offense, they endured on Thursday night. Fish’s depleted crew played like it was vying for a playoff spot and found ways to keep themselves in the ballgame all night on the road against the No. 4 team in the East. 

One major factor was the play of blooming star Tim Hardaway Jr., who finished with 23 points and five rebounds, picking up the scoring slack for a team missing three of their top four scorers.

New York Knicks v Chicago BullsHardaway matched up for most of the night with a budding star on the other side, Chicago’s Jimmy Butler, who tallied a career-high 35 points to lead all scorers and tacked on seven assists to fill the lead guard role of Derrick Rose, who missed the game due to illness.

Once known as purely a defensive stopper, Butler has rounded out his game with a scoring punch this season and currently ranks 10th in the NBA at 21.9 points per game. The reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Month made things difficult on Hardaway on both ends of the court, but Coach Fisher noted that Hardaway gave a good accounting of himself.

“[Butler is] a good two-way player. He plays the game hard on both ends of the floor. I thought Tim competed through,” Derek said. “It’s not easy to cover him as well as have him cover you and I thought Tim gave a really solid effort against a really really good player.”

Butler started the game red-hot, pouring in 12 points in the opening frame on a perfect 4-of-4 from the field. He also tallied four assists in the first. Though seven Knicks players cracked the scoreboard in the game’s first 12 minutes, New York connected on just eight shots in the quarter and Butler’s fast start carried Chicago to a 10-point lead after one.

The Knicks bounced back in the second behind more balanced scoring. This time eight different players got on the scoreboard for New York, including six points each from Amar’e Stoudemire and Quincy Acy. Thanks to their efforts in the paint, the Knicks shot nearly 50 percent for the frame. But although New York surged at times in the second, cutting the deficit down to five multiple times, Chicago’s defense would not allow them to get anything going from behind the arc. After making 1-of-2 from deep in the first, New York didn’t even attempt a shot from three in the frame. 

After the game, Coach Fisher credited the Bulls for taking the three-point shot out of their repertoire for long periods throughout the game, but didn’t use it as an excuse for his team and noted they need to pick up the pace in transition and move the ball to get more open looks from deep.

“They do a good job of running you off the three-point line,” he said. “The ones that were there, we took them. Some of that will continue to improve as we run to score and attack more in transition. But all-in-all we still had our chances.”

Despite their inability to bury, or even take the three, the Knicks trailed by just seven, 52-45 at halftime.

After the break, the game turned in favor of New York and when Hardaway buried a triple just over a minute into the third. the Knicks were back within a single possession of the lead for the first time since early in the opening frame. Chicago held them off for most of the frame, but as the backcourt combination of Hardaway and Jose Calderon heated up late in the third, New York’s defense built stops around it and finally pulled ahead.

New York Knicks v Chicago Bulls

A three by Hardaway with 3:03 left in the third made it a one-point game, but Pau Gasol answered with a bucket to push Chicago’s lead back to three. Hardaway then provided the helper on a Calderon jumper to pull the Knicks back within one, but on the other end, Aaron Brooks drew a foul and sank both free throws to again make it a three-point game. 

Unrelenting, the Knicks scored again after corralling two offensive rebounds on the next possession and Calderon finally found the bottom of the net with a jumper to make it 71-70. Then on the defensive end, the Knicks finally got the stop they needed when they forced Brooks into a turnover. On the other end, they spaced the floor, then threw the ball in deep to Jason Smith, who drew a foul and sank both of his free throws to push the Knicks ahead. 72-71. After three they led 74-73 and Coach Fisher was proud of the commitment on both ends to complete the comeback. 

“Defensively, we had a mindset that we were going to stop them from scoring,” Derek said. “We came out of the locker room with a purpose and I thought they carried that out onto the floor. To take the lead going into the fourth quarter against a good team says a lot about our guys.”

New York Knicks v Chicago BullsHowever, the Knicks’ lead was short-lived as a pair of free throws by Nikola Mirotic put the Bulls back in front in the opening minute of the fourth. A trey by Pablo Prigioni gave New York a brief two-point lead back, but Brooks answered with a three of his own just over a minute later. That Brooks triple kicked off a 12-0 Chicago run over the next two minutes that basically buried the Knicks.

“Chicago’s a good team. They understand how to play in these situations and they made more plays than we did down the stretch to win the game,” Derek said. “I thought we got some decent stops. An offensive rebound here or there and missed opportunities on our end is ultimately what cost us.” 

After a three by Mirotic made it a 10-point game with 7:30 to play, the Knicks did fight back valiantly.

They did so first by attacking the basket and drawing fouls, then successfully converting from the charity stripe.

After free throws by Cole Aldrich, Hardaway and Stoudemire pulled them within six, a three by Hardaway cut that deficit in half with 4:42 to go and when Amar’e knocked down a baby hook with 4:13 remaining, it was just a one-point game, forcing a timeout by Chicago. 

A three by Brooks buoyed the Bulls out of the timeout and though the Knicks repeatedly fought back to within one score, they struggled to get over the hump. Butler sank a huge three with 3:02 left to make it a five-point game, but missed on one just over a minute later after a Calderon jumper had cut the deficit back to three. Aldrich grabbed the rebound and the Knicks moved the ball well on the other end, getting Stoudemire a look from 16-feet that he buried to make it a one-point game with 1:06 to go. 

But Chicago again answered with a Gasol layup to put the lead back at three and after Hardaway misfired on a trey with 37.9 seconds remaining, the Bulls got the rebound and sank their subsequent free throws to put the game on ice. Though he wished his team could’ve turned their hard work into a win to snap their latest slide, Derek told his troops after the game that if they continue to put in the effort they did on Thursday, wins will soon follow.

“It was a great effort,” he said. “After the game, you try to tell your team that all you ask is that they play the way they played tonight. Sometimes you win when you do that and sometimes you don’t. But that has to be the prerequisite. It was great to see the guys play that way tonight. We won’t celebrate any moral victories because of it, but we’ll have a better chance to win most nights if we can take that kind effort on the floor each night.” 

NEXT UP

Injuries and painfully narrow losses have painted a rather ugly portrait for the Knicks in their first season under Fish. But if you flipped that painting upside down, it’s not hard see a hard-working team primed for resurgence if they can get their entire team back on the court, and build some continuity on offense.

“How we’ve lost a lot of games that we have lost. That, I think, is also in my opinion confirmation that we’re not as far away as it seems. Although that sounds crazy with (23) losses. To think about being (seven) games from still being kind of in the race is somewhat mind boggling, but it’s a very long season,” Derek said. “I think if we can get healthy and we can continue to build confidence in one another in what we can do, we’ll still have a shot at the right time.”

New York Knicks v Chicago Bulls

To begin that climb, the Knicks will have to win some tough games as the 2014 calendar year winds down.

New York has six games remaining before the start of the New Year and will take on the top two teams in the East and two of the top six teams in the loaded Western Conference during that stretch. Only two of those six games feature battles with sub .500 foes. 

The first of those is Saturday afternoon when the Knicks welcome the Phoenix Suns (13-14) to Madison Square Garden for a Saturday matinee. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on MSG.

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