Bulls 108, Knicks 81
CHICAGO -- Guard Jimmy Butler scored a game-high 23 points and the Chicago Bulls pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 108-81 win over the New York Knicks on Friday night.
Forwards Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic scored 17 points apiece for the Bulls. Forward Bobby Portis added 16 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
Forward Carmelo Anthony scored 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Knicks. Guard Jose Calderon contributed 18 points.
Chicago (19-12) picked up its third consecutive win. The Bulls improved to 17-1 this season when limiting opponents to fewer than 100 points.
New York (15-19) lost for the fifth time in the past six games.
Mirotic and Portis helped to ignite the Bulls down the stretch.
Portis tipped in a layup to cap an 11-4 run to start the fourth quarter. Mirotic buried a 3-pointer from 29 feet about a minute later to increase Chicago's lead to 95-79 with 6:03 left in the game.
Chicago forward Doug McDermott hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 103-81 with 3:49 to go.
The Bulls entered the fourth quarter with a 77-73 advantage. The Knicks trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half before gaining their first lead with 5:20 left in the third quarter. Calderon scored 10 points in the quarter to keep New York in contention.
Chicago led 56-50 at halftime. An alley-oop pass from Gasol to Butler put the Bulls ahead 55-38 with 3:24 to go in the first half. New York closed the second quarter on a 12-1 run to narrow the gap to six.
The Bulls started the game on an 11-0 run and led 34-18 after the first quarter. The Knicks missed their first nine shots from the field until forward Kristaps Porzingis made a layup to snap the drought nearly four minutes after the opening tip.
NOTES: Bulls G Derrick Rose missed his second consecutive game because of right hamstring tendinitis. His status is uncertain for Sunday's game against the Toronto Raptors. Rose, 27, has appeared in 127 of 359 regular-season games since the start of the 2011-12 season. ... Knicks F Cleanthony Early missed his first game since being shot in the right knee during a robbery outside a strip club on Wednesday morning. Early reportedly will require six to 12 weeks to recover from the injury. ... Bulls G Kirk Hinrich started in place of Rose. Hinrich has started four games this season after starting 22 games in 2014-15. ... Knicks F Lou Amundson sat out for the third straight game because of lower back spasms. ... Bulls C Joakim Noah missed his fifth consecutive game because of a left shoulder sprain.