Bulls at Knicks
THE STORY: The Chicago Bulls look to break out of their first funk of the season when they visit the struggling New York Knicks on Thursday. Chicago was trounced 98-82 by the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday for its third loss in five games after opening the campaign with a 16-3 mark. The 16-point margin of defeat matched the Bulls’ largest loss of the campaign. Philadelphia outplayed Chicago and forced the Bulls to commit 17 turnovers. New York has been one of the more disappointing teams in the NBA and had lost nine of 10 games prior to routing the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday. The losing stretch increased the speculation about coach Mike D’Antoni’s long-term future as coach. The Knicks were expected to contend for the Atlantic Division title but are already 7 1/2 games behind the first-place 76ers. Chicago is playing the fourth of a nine-game road trip that ends Feb. 12 in Boston.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT.
ABOUT THE BULLS (18-6): Richard Hamilton has missed three of the last four games with a thigh injury and coach Tom Thibodeau said he will hold out the veteran guard until he is “completely healthy.” Hamilton has played in just 11 games this season after being sidelined with a groin injury earlier in the campaign. Hamilton played against the Miami Heat on Sunday before sitting out the last two games. “I’m concerned with this thing becoming recurring,” Thibodeau said. “I want to make sure this time that he’s completely healthy.”
ABOUT THE KNICKS (8-13): Forward Carmelo Anthony returned from a two-game absence due to ankle, wrist and thumb injuries and was 9 of 14 from the field while scoring 25 points against the Pistons. The break helped Anthony out both physically and mentally. “My legs felt great out there,” Anthony said. “I felt refreshed. Just taking these five, six days off that I did really helped me out big time. I could feel me having explosiveness back.” Anthony shot just 31.7 percent (40 of 126) in a six-game stretch before sitting out. He is averaging 23.7 points per game.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. The Knicks won two of three against the Bulls last season.
2. Chicago forward Luol Deng (wrist) has missed six consecutive games and the Bulls are holding out hope he can play against the Knicks.
3. New York shot 60 percent from the field against Detroit for its top performance since shooting 61.8 percent against the Golden State Warriors late in the 2004-05 season.