NEW YORK: Luol Deng scored 33 points in Chicago’s 108-101 NBA win over the Knicks in New York yesterday, with Derrick Rose’s appearance on the practice court raising hopes of even better things to come.
Deng’s 33 point tally was his best of the season, improving on the 29 the British forward scored in a four-point Bulls victory against the Knicks on December 21.
“Honestly it’s not about the scoring,” he said. “I just want to play well. I score for the team, but I don’t go out trying to get big numbers. I never focus on one thing.”
Carlos Boozer scored 17 points and Richard Hamilton added 14 for the Bulls, who never trailed and are now 3-0 against the Knicks this season.
“It feels great,” said Chicago’s Joakim Noah. “Everybody’s locked in when we play the Knicks.”
Chicago’s victory spoiled the return of Knicks star Carmelo Anthony after he served a one-game suspension for confronting Boston forward Kevin Garnett after Monday’s 102-96 defeat in New York.
Anthony finished with 39 points on 14-of-32 shooting but couldn’t prevent the Knicks from dropping a third straight game.
Chicago dominated most of the game, and even after the Knicks engineered a 12-0 scoring run late in the fourth quarter the Bulls were able to hang on.
Even before the victory, the Bulls had reason to be pleased as Rose, the 2011 NBA Most Valuable Player, took part in the pre-game shoot-around, stretching with his teammates and firing off some jump shots.
Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau said Rose, who has been sidelined since he tore a knee ligament in the first game of the playoffs last April, is “getting closer” to being able to be exposed to contact in practice.
And he said the young star, who is expected back after the mid-February All-Star break, is coping admirably with the rehab process.
“He’s a great team player. He’s mentally strong, has a great will,” Thibodeaux said. “He understands what he has to go through.”
Kevin Durant delivered 42 points, eight rebounds and five assists Friday as Oklahoma City dealt the reeling Los Angeles Lakers a sixth straight NBA defeat, 116-101.
Russell Westbrook scored 27 points with 10 assists and Kevin Martin chipped in 15 points for the Thunder, who have won four of their last five games.
“A great team win for us,” said Durant. “My teammates did a good job of getting me the ball. We moved the ball so well, which makes it easy for everybody.”
Meanwhile, nothing seems easy these days for the Lakers.
Kobe Bryant led Los Angeles with 28 points and Antawn Jamison contributed 19 points and 10 rebounds, but the Lakers have now lost six in a row for the first time since a seven-game skid from March 2-15 in 2007.
“We played hard the whole game, but they were just better,” Lakers head coach Mike D’Antoni said. “They were just longer, faster, better team-wise and we crumbled away.”
The Lakers were again without Dwight Howard, who is nursing a shoulder injury, and Pau Gasol, who is recovering from a concussion. AGENCIES
