Bulls at Knicks
The Chicago Bulls are battling through a rough stretch of injuries and can’t seem to find enough scoring to win games. The New York Knicks, who host the Bulls on Wednesday, are not exactly making it tough for opposing teams to score at the moment and are coming off back-to-back losses by a combined 56 points. Chicago failed to top 75 points in either of its last two games and is down four starters from the beginning of the season.
Joakim Noah (thigh) was the latest to join the Bulls injury list, joining perennial participant Derrick Rose (knee), Luol Deng (Achilles) and Jimmy Butler (toe). Noah, Deng and Butler are all considered day-to-day, and Butler, for one, is itching to get back. “I hate sitting out,” Butler told ESPN Chicago. “I hate missing games. I always want to play. I always want to be out there, going though everything with my guys, my teammates.”
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN, CSN Chicago, MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE BULLS (8-11): Chicago had already come to accept the injury to Rose when the rest of the team started falling apart. The Bulls shot 33.3 percent in a 92-75 home loss to Detroit on Saturday and followed it up with a 37.3-percent effort in Tuesday’s home loss to Eastern Conference-worst Milwaukee, which included an 0-of-10 performance from starting guard Kirk Hinrich. Chicago has dropped eight of its last 10 games and will play its next two on the road following a 1-3 homestand.
ABOUT THE KNICKS (5-15): New York could be just the opponent to inject some life into the Bulls’ offense with the way it has played defense of late. Things appeared to be looking up when the Knicks snapped a nine-game losing streak with back-to-back wins by a combined 68 points over the Brooklyn Nets and Orlando Magic. But as great as the team looked in those two games is as bad as it has appeared in the last two, suffering the largest margin of defeat in the NBA this season with a 114-73 home loss to Boston on Sunday and allowing the Cleveland Cavaliers to shoot 56.8 percent in a 109-94 setback Tuesday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Knicks F Carmelo Anthony was a bright spot with 29 points on 12-of-19 shooting Tuesday — the third time in four games he has shot 60 percent or better from the field.
2. Chicago has taken six straight in the series, including an 82-81 triumph on Oct. 31.
3. New York F Kenyon Martin (ankle) sat out Tuesday and is day-to-day while G Raymond Felton (hamstring) is questionable after suffering an injury in Cleveland.