Bulls at Knicks
The Chicago Bulls are enjoying a season-high seven-game winning streak and jumped into third place in the Eastern Conference. The New York Knicks, who host the Bulls on Sunday, have nothing left to play for after the Atlanta Hawks knocked them out of playoff contention with a win on Saturday. The Knicks fought their way into a tie for the No. 8 spot in the East but dropped two in a row over last weekend and Atlanta put them out of their misery.
New York kept itself alive with a 108-100 victory at Toronto on Friday but watched its hopes fall when the Hawks earned a surprising victory over Miami on Saturday. Chicago is marching its way toward another playoff run and benefited from the Knicks win on Friday to move a game ahead of the Raptors for the No. 3 spot. The Bulls had a little trouble keeping Andre Drummond (26 points and 26 rebounds) off the boards on Friday but still pulled off a 106-98 victory on Friday after overcoming an 18-point deficit.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, CSN Chicago, MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE BULLS (47-32): D.J. Augustin scored 24 points on Friday and continues to be the offensive sparkplug the team needs off the bench. “We’re just trying to finish strong,” Augustin told reporters. “We don’t want to go into the playoffs playing terrible or making mistakes, not focusing. That’s the main thing we are trying to do every game, focus down the stretch and play hard.” Augustin is averaging 21.4 points in the last five games and is 17-for-35 from 3-point range in that span.
ABOUT THE KNICKS (34-45): Carmelo Anthony battled through a shoulder injury to put up 30 points in the win over the Raptors and is now a part of a three-game evaluation period for new team president Phil Jackson. Anthony can opt-out of his contract this summer and Jackson is thought to be considering a change on the bench as well, with coach Mike Woodson the subject of daily speculation. One player working his way up in the plans could be Amar’e Stoudemire, who put up 24 points and 11 rebounds on Friday and has been one of the keys to the team’s surge over the last month.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Bulls have taken seven of the last eight in the series, including a 109-90 home triumph on Mar. 2.
2. Anthony will miss the playoffs for the first time in his 11 professional seasons.
3. Chicago C Joakim Noah collected one of his four triple-doubles with 13 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds in the Mar. 2 meeting.