Towns and Brunson help Knicks edge Bulls 113-111 in overtime
NEW YORK — — Karl-Anthony Towns had 32 points and 18 rebounds, Jalen Brunson added 22 points and 12 assists and the New York Knicks edged Chicago Bulls 113-111 in overtime Thursday night.
Miles McBride finished with 22 points, while Mikal Bridges had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the short-handed Knicks, who improved to 36-18 in their first game following the All-Star break.
New York, which has won three straight and nine of 11, was without Josh Hart, who was held out due to pain in his right kneecap. OG Anunoby missed his sixth consecutive game because of a sprained right foot.
Josh Giddey had 27 points and 16 rebounds and Nikola Vucevic had 21 points for the Bulls, who have lost their last five games.
Vucevic had a chance to win with 2 seconds left in the fourth quarter, but had his shot blocked by Bridges under the basket.
Giddey opened overtime with a 3-pointer before the Knicks responded with a 9-0 run, highlighted by three consecutive baskets from Towns.
Chicago pulled within 113-111 with two baskets from Colby White and had a chance to send the game into a second overtime when Vucevic missed an 8-foot jumper over Landry Shamet as time expired.
Takeaways
Bulls: Reserve forward Jalen Smith was removed in the first quarter after suffering a face injury.
Knicks: Precious Achiuwa had 11 points and nine rebounds.
Key moment
Vucevic’s 3-pointer put the Bulls ahead 104-102 with 50 seconds left in the fourth quarter and Brunson then hit a stepback jumper over Ayo Dosunmu to tie it. On the ensuing possession, a kickball was called on the Knicks. Vucevic received the pass under the basket, but had the potential winning shot rejected by Bridges.
Key stat
Towns was 2 for 15 from the field with six points in the first half. He scored 26 points on 12-for-15 shooting in the second half and overtime period.
Up next
New York visits Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland on Friday. Chicago will host Phoenix on Saturday.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Chicago Bulls
New York Knicks
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Regular Season Series
Game Information
2024-25 Central Standings
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NBA News
CHI wins 2-1
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHI | 21 | 22 | 38 | 23 | 7 | 111 |
| NY | 19 | 31 | 33 | 21 | 9 | 113 |
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland | 45 | 10 | .818 | – | W5 |
| Indiana | 31 | 23 | .574 | 13.5 | W2 |
| Milwaukee | 30 | 24 | .556 | 14.5 | W2 |
| Detroit | 29 | 26 | .527 | 16 | W4 |
| Chicago | 22 | 34 | .393 | 23.5 | L5 |
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston | 40 | 16 | .714 | – | W4 |
| New York | 37 | 18 | .673 | 2.5 | W3 |
| Philadelphia | 20 | 35 | .364 | 19.5 | L6 |
| Brooklyn | 20 | 35 | .364 | 19.5 | L1 |
| Toronto | 17 | 38 | .309 | 22.5 | L1 |
Miles McBride, Precious Achiuwa step up for injury-ravaged Knicks in win over Bulls
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It didn’t take long for Precious Achiuwa to make his mark on Thursday’s game.
Four minutes into his Knicks’ 113-111 overtime win over the Chicago Bulls at Madison Square Garden, Achiuwa stepped in front of Nikola Vucevic and deflected an errant pass into the hands of Jalen Brunson.
Achiuwa then charged past the Bulls’ transition defense, leapt from about a step inside the free-throw line and collected a lob from Brunson for a high-flying alley-oop dunk.
The two-handed slam served as a highlight on a night Achiuwa and Miles “Deuce” McBride stepped up for the injury-ravaged Knicks.
The pair was pressed into starting duty as forward OG Anunoby missed his sixth consecutive game with a right foot sprain and guard Josh Hart sat with patellofemoral syndrome, or “runner’s knee,” in his right knee.
Achiuwa finished with 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting, nine rebounds and three steals in 45 minutes.
McBride, meanwhile, scored a season-high 23 points on 9-of-19 shooting, including 5-of-12 on 3-point attempts, to go with six rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks in 42 minutes in his first start of the year.
His go-ahead 3-pointer with 3:58 left in overtime put the Knicks up for good.
The 24-year-old McBride also demonstrated his play-making ability during a third-quarter sequence in which he finished a floater, intercepted the subsequent inbound pass, then found a driving Karl-Anthony Towns for an assist.
Their performances helped keep the Knicks afloat during a first half in which Towns scored six points on 2-of-15 shooting and Mikal Bridges scored two points on 1-of-7 shooting.
The Knicks also got 17 minutes from rookie center Ariel Hukporti, who finished with two points, five rebounds and an emphatic block on Bulls star Coby White. The Knicks remain without center Mitchell Robinson, who is nearing his season debut following May’s left ankle surgery.
Anunoby’s extended absence has meant more playing time for Achiuwa, who started each of the last six games and gave the Knicks at least 33 minutes in all of them.
Including the Feb. 1 game in which Anunoby left in the third quarter with his injury, Achiuwa is averaging 12.6 points and 9.3 rebounds over his last seven appearances. That includes a season-best 26-point explosion in last week’s 149-148 overtime win over the Atlanta Hawks.
The Knicks acquired Achiuwa, 25, in the same December 2023 trade with the Toronto Raptors that brought Anunoby to New York.
Achiuwa quickly emerged as a valuable rotation player, averaging 7.6 points and 7.2 rebounds in 49 appearances, including 18 starts, last season.
The Knicks re-signed Achiuwa to a one-year, $6 million contract over the summer after center Isaiah Hartenstein left in free agency for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Achiuwa missed the first 21 games of this season after suffering a left hamstring injury in the preseason. He entered Thursday averaging 7.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
McBride, meanwhile, began Thursday averaging a career-high 9.0 points, operating as the Knicks’ sixth man.
The extra exposure for Achiuwa and McBride should pay long-term dividends for the Knicks, who entered Thursday averaging the NBA’s fewest bench points (21.5) and rebounds (9.6) per game. The Knicks rely on their starters for more minutes than any other team.
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