Bulls 104, Knicks 80
Pau Gasol collected 21 points and 11 rebounds in his Chicago debut as the Bulls crushed the host New York Knicks.
Taj Gibson added 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting off the bench and Derrick Rose scored 13 for Chicago, which outscored the Knicks 31-17 in the third quarter to take control. Rookie Doug McDermott recorded 12 points and five rebounds in his NBA debut and Aaron Brooks chipped in 13 points and six assists in the rout.
Carmelo Anthony scored 14 points and Amar’e Stoudemire had 12 and eight rebounds for New York. Shooting guards Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith and Tim Hardaway Jr. combined to go 6-of-27 from the field as the Knicks lost Derek Fisher’s coaching debut.
The Bulls took a 53-43 lead into the half and pushed it out to a 16-point gap less than five minutes into the third quarter. Kirk Hinrich bookended a 14-3 burst with a pair of 3-pointers to stretch the lead to 81-57 and Chicago maintained the 24-point edge heading into the final 12 minutes.
McDermott’s 3-pointer with 6:28 to play spread the advantage to 98-65 as Rose and most of the starters watched the reserves close it out. The Knicks shot 36.5 percent from the field, including 3-of-17 from 3-point range.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Bulls G Jimmy Butler (thumb) sat out and is day-to-day. … Chicago C Joakim Noah was held to three points on 1-of-4 shooting in 20 minutes. … The Knicks were missing F Andrea Bargnani (hamstring) and PG Jose Calderon (calf).