It’s Christmas day and the New York Knicks have given the best gift they can to their teams and fans with a well deserved victory over the Chicago Bulls. This game was first of five great games on this Christmas day. Following this one, the Boson Celtics visit the new look Orlando Magic at 2:30 p.m. eastern, then at 5:00 p.m., the Miami Heat visit the current champions the Los Angeles Lakers which wil be followed by the Denver Nuggets at the Oklahoma City Thunder at 8:00 p.m. and the Portland Trailblazers at the Golden State Warriors at 10:30.
The Knicks and Bulls played a very tough even first half as it ended 54-52 Chicago with a buzzer beating jumper from Carlos Boozer to give the Bulls a narrow lead.
The second half things started to heat up as each team exchanged points with exciting back and forth action. However, the 4th quart started to open the game up a bit.
The Knicks tok advantage of an 8-9 minute scoring drought by Chicago and built themselves a healthy 8 point lead. The lead was eventually cut down to six but the Knicks just kept on scoring.
Raymond Felton had 20 points, 12 assists, and 5 steals for the Knicks and teammate Amare Stoudemire also had 20 points and added 10 rebounds and 6 blocks. For the Bulls the allstar point guard Derrick Rose had a great game with 25 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, and 6 steals. Power forward Carlos Boozer added 26 points and 19 rebounds just one rebound shy of a 20-20 game.
This was the second time the two teams met and it gives the Knicks a 2-0 season series lead against the Bulls. They played once before in Chicago on November 4th when the Knicks were victorious 120-112.
The Knicks now sit n fifth place with an 18-12 record and Chicago stayin 3rd with a record of 18 wins and 10 losses.
The Knicks will visit Miami in their next game on Tuesday December 28th with a chance for redemption after Miami came into New York and wiped them out with a 113-91 victory after a great first half performance keeping the Heat in check at 57 apiece at half time only to be outscored by 22 in the second half. The Heat overwhelmed them with their offensive drilling with Miami’s big three with Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. The game will give the Knicks a chance to prove that they have what it takes to play with the elite teams in the NBA.
Chicago next visit Detroit tomorrow looking to bounce back from today’s loss. They played Detroit once before on October 30th with a 101-91 victory in a game where Carlos Boozer was still out with an injury. Derrick Rose had a huge game with 39 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds.
The Knicks after quite a few poor seasons are looking like a solid playoff team thanks to the addition of Amare Stoudemire from Phoenix, Raymond Felton from Charlotte, and rookie Landry Fields finding himself in Knicks starting line-up.
The Bulls are playing well with the leadership of 3rd year guard Derrick Rose who’s team has been given a big boost with the acquisition of Carlos Boozer from the Utah Jazz. The unfortunate issue for the Bulls is that a little while after Carlos Boozer returned from injury, Joakhim Noah was ruled out injured for an extended period of time due to thumb surgery. Once he returns, the Bulls will have a very strong line-up that will difficult to defeat.
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