New York Knicks at Chicago Bulls: How, Who to Watch With 2nd Seed in Sight
The New York Knicks are looking for real estate and revenge on Tuesday night in Chicago ... not necessarily in that order.
New York is back at United Center on Tuesday for the middle stage of a three-game set against the Chicago Bulls to close out the year. The Knicks have since recovered from a 108-100 loss in Chicago on Friday, as they took down the Milwaukee Bucks two nights later to close out the week. However, Tuesday's game is a relative must-win if the Knicks want to keep playing for the Eastern Conference's second seed, which remains in play after the weekend's events.
Entering Tuesday night, New York is a game behind Milwaukee for second but remains on the losing end of an unwinnable tiebreaker with the Orlando Magic. New York can clinch at least a top six spot with a win and Miami loss to Atlanta, or Miami/Philadelphia losses combined with an Orlando win.
Chicago, locked into either the ninth or tenth seed, failed to capitalize on the momentum offered on Friday, failing to help the Knicks with a 113-98 loss to the aforementioned Magic. The Bulls are looking to secure homecourt advantage in their guaranteed Play-In matchup with the Atlanta Hawks later this month, currently a game up for the right entring Tuesday night.
New York and Chicago will wrap their respective regular seasons on Sunday at Madison Square Garden. The regular season series is split thus far, with the Knicks previously prevailing at Madison Square Garden in January.
What: New York Knicks (46-32) @ Chicago Bulls (37-41)
Where: United Center, Chicago, IL
When/Watch: Tuesday, 8 p.m. ET, MSG
Who's Favored: NYK -4.5
Keep An Eye On: Miles McBride
Even though he's removed from the Knicks' starting five upon OG Anunoby's return, McBride continues to make contributions, including a 19-point, seven-rebound showing in defeat on Friday night. The Knicks will continue to reply upon McBride's unexpected rise through the rotation despite a de facto demotion, as he has effectively made up for the relatively disappointing return on the Bojan Bogdanovic/Alec Burks deal.
Bull to Watch: Javonte Green
Green is perhaps a relative public enemy in Knicks lore, as it was his contact with Josh Hart that led to the latter's early ejection on Friday. The Chicago reserve also came off the bench to score a game-best 25 in the victory, giving the Bulls some much-needed momentum a they embark on postseason affairs. New York can't unexpected heroes rise on its own postseason trek, and will have to neutralize Green's shooting abilities to avoid a repeat from Friday: Green hit 10-of-14 from the field in the prior victory.
They Said It
"We low-key hate each other, but we like each other. We always joke on each other. We always find something to make fun of the other person. Somehow that turns into great team chemistry, so that's our makeup right now.”-Jalen Brunson on Knicks' chemistry (h/t Tommy Beer/MSG Networks)
Prediction
The Knicks once again found a way to cauterize disaster after surprisingly falling on Friday. No one's in the business of makin excuses, but the Knicks did go into the Friday game with little, if any, rest. Now that they've had just a little bit of time to soak in the relative glory, they should be back to their full selves ... at least as much as they can considering all the injures they've endured and are enduring. Those full selves are the ones that have proven fully capable of handling business against lesser competition.
Knicks 109, Bulls 97