New York quickly bounced back after a slow start in the first quarter. The Knicks stepped up with energy, added defense, and made their shots which made the difference for them in the game.

“We just couldn’t make a basket, we had some great looks that weren’t going in in the beginning,” said center Mitchell Robinson about the first quarter.  “As we started warming up, stuff started happening, our defense started getting tighter and we were making stuff happen.”

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The Knicks were sluggish to start. They missed shots, lacked defense and trailed 28-24 at the end of the first quarter. They had only made 10 out of 23 attempted field goals and 12.5% of their attempted 3-point shots.

However, New York bounced back in the second quarter and fought the remainder of the game down to the last seconds against a tough team. The Bulls were 5th in the NBA Eastern Conference Standings prior to the game.

“He’s [DeMar DeRozan] tough to stop, him and Zach [LaVine] played extremely well for them,” RJ Barrett said about trying to hold off DeRozan and the Bulls in the fourth quarter.

DeRozan led Chicago with 16 points at halftime, but Knicks were ahead 53-50. Alec Burks led New York with 15 points.

“They are a really good team they are loaded, they have weapons everywhere, they added Tristan Thompson,” Barrett said. “They got [Alex] Caruso back, they got [Patrick] Williams back, they’re a great team and this was a really big win for us.”

The Bulls kept their pressure and were ahead by 12 points, their largest lead in the game, when 10:12 minutes remained in the second quarter. The Knicks, however, were resilient and tied the score at 44 with 3:46 minutes to go in the quarter and pushed forward.

Toppin scored his first points of the game in the second quarter. He struggled some with free throws and only made 1 of 4 shots, however made two of three 3-pointers and added seven total points. Robinson stepped up to protect the rim and had one steal in the second quarter. He and Randle each had three total rebounds in the quarter.

The crowd was fired up for Toppin and chanted they wanted Obi in the third quarter. New York was ahead 81-75 at the end of the quarter and kept their lead in the fourth quarter even as the Bulls increased pressure.  Chicago was within one point of closing the gap when less than 1:17 minutes remained in the game with the score at 104-103.

A three pointer by Burks and two free throws by Randle secured the win.

DeRozan scored the game high of 37 points. Barrett led the Knicks with 28 points. He had six total rebounds and three assists. His average was 19.9 points per game prior to the match up. Barrett was excited about Duke taking on the UNC Men’s Basketball team Saturday for the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament.

Barrett (28 points) played one year with Duke’s Men’s Basketball team before being selected by the Knicks as the 3rd overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.  He said he wishes he could play in the matchup. “It’s really exciting,” said Barrett. “It’s never happened before. It’s going to be the Final Four. Coach K’s last year.”

Burks added 27 points. He also had six rebounds and three assists. He made 5, 3-pointers.

Knicks Head Coach Tom Thibodeau said he thinks there’s balance now which is making the difference in their winning streak.

“We’re strong on both sides of the ball,” said Coach Thibodeau. “Our starters are giving us good things. This bench is giving us good things.”

The Knicks hope to keep the winning streak alive as they faced the Charlotte Hornets Wednesday night.