Julius Randle scored 35 points Wednesday night while Jalen Brunson and Isaiah Hartenstein each posted double-doubles for the host New York Knicks, who pulled away for a 116-100 win over the Chicago Bulls.
Randle scored 23 points in the second half for the Knicks, who outscored the Bulls 65-45 over the final two quarters while improving to 2-0 since OG Anunoby joined the team following a blockbuster trade with the Toronto Raptors last weekend.
Brunson finished with 31 points and 13 assists while Hartenstein had 10 points and 20 rebounds, the latter figure easily surpassing his previous single-game best of 17 boards, set against the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 18. Anunoby and Donte DiVincenzo each added 11 points.
DeMar DeRozan scored 28 points while Coby White had 26 points for the Bulls, who lost both ends of a road back-to-back set. Chicago fell to the Philadelphia 76ers 105-92 on Tuesday.
Andre Drummond wound up with 13 points and 16 rebounds for the Bulls on Wednesday, and Alex Caruso also put up 13 points.
The Knicks scored the first seven points of the game and led by as many as eight in the opening quarter.
DeRozan’s jumper accounted for the final points of the period, pulling the Bulls within 26-24 and beginning a 32-18 run for Chicago. DeRozan had 12 points in the surge, which ended with Caruso sinking a 3-pointer to give the visitors their biggest lead at 54-44 with 2:01 left in the half.
The Knicks scored seven of the period’s final eight points to climb within 55-51. New York remained hot in the third, when it outscored the Bulls 35-23 and took the lead for good on Hartenstein’s layup with 9:07 remaining. New York opened a quartet of eight-point leads and ended the period ahead 86-78.
The Bulls began the fourth on an 11-4 run and cut the deficit to 90-89 on DeRozan’s 3-pointer with 9:09 left. Randle hit a 3-pointer and Drummond responded with a layup, after which the Knicks put the game away with a 19-4 run. Brunson’s jumper gave New York its biggest lead at 112-95 with 2:56 remaining.
–Field Level Media
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