Miles McBride, Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and Karl-Anthony Towns all came up especially huge as the Knicks — missing Josh Hart and OG Anunoby — were able to Gut Out a win over Chicago at Madison Square Garden on a Thursday night.
Brunson hit a CLUTCH jumper with 29 seconds left to tie the game in regulation, then Mikal Bridges came up with a HUGE BLOCK of Nikola Vucevic‘s hook shot inside as regulation ended — forcing overtime. In OT, Karl-Anthony Towns dominated — as he did the entire 2nd half, finishing with 32 pts on 14-30 shooting, with 18 rebounds.
And through it all, Deuce McBride, pressed into a starters role with Hart out — was tremendous defensively and offensively — with 23 pts on 9-19 shooting including 5-12 from 3, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks.
The Knicks defense took over at the end — Chicago with the ball and a chance to tie or win with 8 seconds left — but a frenetic NY defense forced Vucevic to miss short from 8 feet out as the buzzer sounded.
“We had some moving parts in this game, and in the end just find a way to win,” said coach Tom Thibodeau afterwards. “I was proud of the way they found a way to win in the end.”
“Landry (Shamet) had some good plays,” continued Thibs. “I thought Precious gave us some good plays defensively; KAT had some timely shots; Deuce big-time shots; Mikal had a stretch to start the 4th. That group that started the 4th gave us a good lift as well. We need everyone; we’re shorthanded; margin of error is tight; just go out there and find a way to win. And that’s what we did tonite.”
NY improves to 37-18; Chicago falls to 22-34.
1. Bulls’ Team In Transition
Chicago is coached by Billy Donavan and has a lot of talent but is having a tough season and is in the middle of re-arranging things.
Zach LaVine was traded to Sacramento in a 3-team trade in early February for which they received Kevin Huerter, Zach Collins, and Tre Jones. Those 3 players are still working themselves into this team. Lonzo Ball returned 35 games ago from being out over 2 years — joining Josh Giddey as a two-point guard tandem.
Giddey was a load full in this game — slashing to the basket and using his 6’5 height to advantage over Brunson or McBride guarding him. He had 27 pts on 11-18 shooting (4-6 from 3) with 16 rebounds, and 4 assists.
2. KAT Cold in 1st Half
The Knicks played even with Chicago in the 1st quarter — the first game for both teams after the long layoff due to All Star Game week. Chicago led 21-19 after 1 quarter.
Those lobs in transition are NOT. EASY. 😳
Achiuwa gets the steal then Brunson finds him up top for big-time jam! pic.twitter.com/fxSLiTEAOl
— NBA (@NBA) February 21, 2025
Karl-Anthony Towns was cold as ice in the 1st half, hitting a 3 early in the game, then missing shot after shot including chippies inside– going 1-7 in the 1st quarter and 2-11 in the 1st half.
On one play in the 1st quarter, KAT missed a drive inside, got his own offensive rebound, and missed the chippie as it rolled in and out.
3. Hukporti Good
With OG Anunoby out, Precious Achiuwa pressed in as a starter, and Jericho Sims traded, Ariel Hukporti is the defacto Knick backup center until Mitchell Robinson returns. The Knicks kept Hukporti for a reason — he is an active 7-footer and he played good ball when he came in for KAT late in the 1st quarter and then again to start the 2nd quarter.
A Hukporti floater gave NY a 26-25 lead early in the 2nd quarter as the 2nd team, with Cameron Payne and Landry Shamet — along with starters Jalen Brunson and Precious Achiuwa — kept pace with the Bulls.
4. McBride Leads Knicks to 10-Pt Lead in 2nd Quarter
And then the rest of the starters returned with 8 minutes left and a refreshed Deuce McBride tore into the Bulls.
First an offensive rebound that led to a Precious 3, then a steal and a dunk, then a block of a Tre Jones drive inside which led to a fast break and Brunson jumper and NY was up by 7 at 39-32.
After a Chicago timeout, McBride hit a 3 to put NY up 10.
NY led by 7 at the half, then early in the 3rd, McBride hit a floater in the paint, stole Matas Buzelis‘ inbounds pass to Josh Giddey and fed KAT for a layup and NY was up 63-53.
.@deucemcb11 is a PROBLEM 🫡🫡 pic.twitter.com/FuNPTNkAg6
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 21, 2025
Noted NBA Analyst Ross Kreines: “Miles McBride impacted the game as he always brings effort and activity, is shot ready and shot confident, make or miss, gets after you defensively, plays the passing lanes, utilizes screens on one end of the floor and hedges over them on other end, gets 50/50 balls and plays his role.”
5. KAT On Fire in 2nd Half
As much as KAT was cold in the 1st half, he was ON FIRE in the 2nd half, taking it to the rim and making sure to dunk it home or hit his drives. And then his 3 opened up. KAT shot 12-19 in the 2nd half including big buckets in OT, and 18 rebounds.
KAT drops 32 & 18 in the @nyknicks OT win 😤
It’s his 3rd straight game with 30+ PTS and 10+ REB as New York wins their 3rd straight! pic.twitter.com/IKOHlRtmvw
— NBA (@NBA) February 21, 2025
6. Giddey & Bulls Hit 3’s in 2nd Half
But the Bulls, who were ice cold from 3 in the 1st half, got hot from 3 in the 2nd half, including Giddey hitting inside drive and outside 3’s, and Kevin Huerter being a pain in the ass (9 pts, 3-6 from 3).
Lonzo Ball helped the Knicks with some UFO’s but overall shot 3-9 from 3. Chicago finished 19-48 from 3 for the game (39 %), to the Knicks’ 14-46 (30 %).
7. Hukporti Great
As good as Hukporti was at the end of the 1st quarter/early of the 2nd quarter — he was great when he came in late in the 3rd/early in the 4th — rebounds galore and a MASSIVE BLOCK of a Coby White drive with 8:48 left in the game that kept NY’s lead at 7 at the time.
NAH 🚫 – Ariel Hukporti pic.twitter.com/hcwbIKXY5k
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 21, 2025
“”Our rookie was really, really good tonight,” said Karl-Anthony Towns afterwards about Hukporti. “He was special.”
7. Brunson & Bridges Save Regulation
Mikal Bridges was having a quiet night offensively until the 4th, when he hit 3 consecutive big buckets early in the quarter, and then hit a HUGE 3 with 5:54 left to give NY back a 1-pt lead, 95-94 at the time.
With Josh Hart out, Bridges was also ripping down rebounds, and with 54 seconds left and NY up 1, had a HUGE block of a Coby White drive. But the Bulls got the offensive rebound and Nikola Vucevic hit a huge 3 with the shot clock expiring to put the Bulls up 2 with 50 seconds left.
And that is when Jalen Brunson stepped up — coming down and hitting a HUGE, CLUTCH 15-footer with 29 seconds left for a tie game at 104-104.
JALEN BRUNSON CLUTCH BUCKET pic.twitter.com/NGkxkVwqDr
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) February 21, 2025
A TOUGH Knick defense held court, as Lonzo Ball missed a 3 — but the Bulls got the offensive rebound and called timeout with 2 seconds left. They inbounded to the 6’11 Vukovic inside who put up a hook for an easy basket — but the 6’5 Mikal Bridges BLOCKED the shot to save the game for NY.
WHAT A BLOCK ‘KAL 🚫
we’re headed to OT pic.twitter.com/iqQ6lyMfhi
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 21, 2025
“I mean at first I was like ‘oh my god’,” said Jalen Brunson afterwards. “And then he made the play, and I was like, ‘oh — good. Just very thankful for his long ass arms’.”
8. KAT Rolls in OT
Josh Giddey made the first shot of OT, but then it was McBride again — with a 3 to put NY up — and then KAT started to ROLL to the basket for buckets — 3 straight including a 17-footer for a 113-106 Knick lead with 1:55 left.
But Chicago fought back — Coby White with a deuce and a 3 and it was a 2-pt game again, at 113-111 NY with 50 seconds left.
Brunson missed a 3 and Bulls got the ball with 8 seconds left — after a timeout the Knick defense clamped down; Vucevic got off an 8-footer at the buzzer and missed. Ballgame. PHEW.
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