EPoint guard Kemba Walker scored 21 points, Canadian forward RJ Barrett added 20 and the New York Knicks held on to leave the Chicago Bulls with their first loss of the season 103-104 at their United Center field.
Power forward Julius Randle contributed a double-double of 13 points and 16 rebounds as the leader of the Knicks’ inside game.
While veteran point guard Derrick Rose, a former Bulls player, came off the New York bench to score 12 points when the Knicks won their second straight game and improved to 4-1 so far this new season.
Bulls star guard Zack LaVine scored 25 points despite playing with a torn ligament in his left thumb. The Chicago team had a 12-0 run in the final minutes to almost tie the score in a game that the Knicks had dominated and were always ahead on the scoreboard.
LaVine’s dunk with 9.5 seconds to go cut New York’s lead to one point after the Knicks held a 91-104 104-91 lead with 2:59 to play.
LaVine’s thumb was taped after he was injured Monday in Toronto.
Randle missed a pair of free throws with 4.7 seconds left to give Chicago final possession, but forward DeMar DeRozan missed a shot from just over four meters from the basket when time ran out.
The Montenegrin Swiss power forward Nikola Vucevic finished with 22 points and DeRozan added another 20 points in the attack of the Bulls who lost undefeated so far this season (4-1).
The Bulls’ 4-0 start was their best since 1996-97 when legendary Michael Jordan was still with the team.
New York shot 46% and was a quicker, sharper touch from the court for most of the game than Chicago, which hit 43%.
The Knicks went ahead by as much as 13 points in the third quarter without the Bulls eventually being able to turn the score around.
