Knicks 128, Bulls 120 (OT): “How sweet it is. I hate the Bulls”

The Knicks extended their winning streak to five as they took down the Bulls 128-120 in an overtime thriller on a wild Wednesday night in Chicago.

New York’s stars were the focal point of the performance throughout the game as Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson combined for 61 points and four Knicks starters finished in double figures in the victory.

RJ Barrett chipped in 22 points and Quentin Grimes added 14 massive points including some huge shots in the fourth quarter and in overtime to help secure the win. Grimes hit one shot in the fourth quarter that nearly sealed the win.

Then, with the help of a kind iron, Grimes would hit another massive jumper in overtime that helped wrap up the victory in Chicago.

Brunson really shined in overtime as well and hit some key shots as well including the dagger with less than 30 seconds left that put a bow on proceedings and sent Alex Caruso to the shadow realm.

New York also received 23 key bench points that helped the cause in the victory as they won the first of three meetings against the Bulls this month.

The Knicks improved to 15-13 and sent the Bulls to a record of 11-15 which is massive in the early days of the race to the playoffs.

Chicago’s stars were huge throughout the game as well led by DeMar DeRozan, who led all scorers with 32 points and forced overtime with his finger-roll finish. Zach LaVine had 25 points on 23 shots from the field and Knick killer Nikola Vucevic had 19 points and seven rebounds in the loss.

Players like Grimes made some huge defensive plays down the stretch in regulation and overtime that led to the victory as well. When you look back at the Knicks reportedly having Grimes as a deal-breaker for the Donovan Mitchell trade remember games like this one. He made some huge plays on both ends throughout the contest. That is why New York wanted to hold on to him so badly.

One of the biggest differences in the game was three-point shooting. The Knicks went 18-34 (52.9 percent) on their threes while holding the Bulls to just 32.1 percent from deep on just nine made three-point shots.

The Knicks remain and in sixth place in the East and are just 2.5 games back of the third-place Cleveland Cavaliers. It’s amazing what a good run in the NBA can do for your postseason hopes later on in the season. Chicago stays in 11th place in the East and are 1.5 games out of the play-in as we get closer to the New Year.

Of course, the Knicks and Bulls will do battle again in Chicago on Friday night and then one more time on Dec. 23. All of the games these two teams will play against each other fall during these next two weeks and could be extremely important towards the end of the season. As P&T’er Itsallhearsay3 noted, it’s always fun beating the Bulls.

As always, we will have the coverage during and after Friday’s game starting at 8 p.m.