CHICAGO – Saturday night history was made for New York, but not in a good way. With a 111-80 loss to Chicago, the Knicks set a new franchise record for most losses in a season. Their loss Saturday night put them at 14-60 on the year, and in the driver’s seat to get the first pick in the NBA Draft after the season’s completion. Chicago’s win also completed a season sweep of the Knicks, with one win in New York and two in Chicago.
Chicago dominated on all aspects of the game, led by their excellent defense. They held the Knicks to a 9th straight game under 50 points to end the 1st half. New York had just 34 points at halftime, and only 80 points to finish the game. The Knicks were held to just 38% shooting from the field, and just 23% from 3 point land.
Chicago owned the interior as they scored a whopping 50 points in the paint Saturday night. New York only managed 22 points in the paint of their own, and just 6 fast break points. Easy opportunities were few and far between for the Knicks, and have been hard to come by all season long.
The Bulls had 6 players in double figures, led by Nikola Mirotic who finished with 24 points in 26 minutes off the bench. Pau Gasol led the starters with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Jimmy Butler was close behind with 18 points, on a perfect 8-8 from the charity stripe.
Andrea Bargnani led Knick scorers with 14 points and also led in rebounding with 7 boards. New York is really hurting in the scoring department without their franchise player Carmelo Anthony, who has been out since the all-star game in February. They will be happy to get him back next season, and will need to get him some help in the off season. If they do not solve their scoring issues as well as interior defense in the offseason, they could miss the playoffs again next year.
New York’s next opponent will be the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night in the Garden.
Barry Holmes/PureSportsNY