Despite enjoying the long-awaited regular season return of Derrick Rose, the Chicago Bulls looked flat in their season-opening game against the defending NBA Champion Miami Heat earlier this week. Now, the season is 82-games long so there clearly is no reason for Chicago fans to panic after the 107-95 defeat, but it is worth noting that it will probably take a bit of time for Rose to get acclimated to everyday competition once again even though he practiced and participated in the recent NBA preseason. Rose suffered a terrible ACL injury during the 2012 NBA Playoffs and it was that injury that ultimately forced him to miss all of last season. Even without their premier player available, Chicago was still able to make the postseason where they defeated the Brooklyn Nets in the opening round before falling to the Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals. With Rose back on the floor full-time this time around, the Bulls are looked upon as one of the team's capable of competing with Miami, even after the opening night struggles.
Rose played 34 minutes in the loss to Miami, recording 12 points on 4-of-15 shooting to go along with 4 assists. With the Bulls now set to take on a New York Knicks team coming off 90-83 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, Rose and company know an improved showing will be needed to take down a talented Eastern Conference rival in front of the home crowd. The Knicks looked brilliant heading into the halftime locker room against the Bucks, holding a 25-point advantage after completely outshooting and outhustling a banged-up Bucks team. Out of the locker rooms for the second half however, New York struggled to keep the same intensity as Milwaukee fought back to take a brief lead late in the game. Strong defense from Tyson Chandler and finishing buckets from Carmelo Anthony helped the Knicks walk away with a victory on opening night at Madison Square Garden and while the win is certainly a positive, Chandler says he'd like to see his team close games in more convincing fashion, especially when they have a substantial lead.
"We want to put teams away, especially, you know, you're going into a back-to-back, so you have an opportunity to rest," Chandler said. "But like I say, at the end of the day, learning experience, and I'd rather learn with a win than a loss." Chandler finished the evening with 10 points, 6 rebounds and 5 blocks, a tremendous performance on opening night that certainly aided in his team's ability to fend off the pesky Bucks. Carmelo Anthony led all scorers with 19 points while also putting in needed baskets down the final stretch of the game.
Looking to take down the Bulls for the first time since April 8, 2012, the Knicks hope to build off their home opener and earn what would surely be an impressive road victory in Chicago.
Knicks vs. Bulls: DATE, TIME & TV INFO
DATE: Thursday, October 31
TIME: 8:00pm, ET
TV COVERAGE: TNT
LIVE STREAM: CLICK HERE
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
