Josh Giddey scored a career-high 32 points and Nikola Vucevic added 26 as the Chicago Bulls remained unbeaten with a 135-125 win over the visiting New York Knicks on Friday in the NBA Cup opener for both squads.
At 5-0, the Bulls are off to their best start since the 1996-97 campaign. Chicago is one of three remaining unbeaten NBA teams.
The Bulls led by as many as 22 in the second quarter before New York rallied to pull within 115-113 on OG Anunoby’s 3-pointer with 5:43 left in the contest.
Vucevic scored eight points during a 13-3 run to help Chicago move ahead 128-116 with 1:44 remaining. Jalen Brunson scored to make it an eight-point game with 58 seconds left before the Bulls went on to seal coach Billy Donovan’s 200th victory with the team.
Chicago has relied on its depth during its hot start, and that was on display again as the Bulls outscored New York 53-21 in bench points.
Ayo Dosunmu (22), Matas Buzelis (13), Kevin Huerter (12) and Jalen Smith (10) also finished in double figures for Chicago. Giddey added 10 rebounds and nine assists.
Brunson scored 29 points for the Knicks, who have lost three straight. Anunoby had 26 points while Mikal Bridges had 23 points and Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Chicago closed the first quarter on a 9-2 run to lead 35-27 after trailing by as many as eight points early.
The Bulls went up 58-42 with 3:59 left in the first half on Dosunmu’s layup and held a 72-53 advantage at the break. It marked Chicago’s most first-half points this season.
Giddey had 21 points in the first half on 7-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. The Bulls shot 59.5% from the field and 47.6% (10-of-21) from beyond the arc for the half.
The Knicks opened the third quarter on a 23-9 run to cut the deficit to 81-76 with 5:52 left in the period.
Dosunmu scored at the buzzer to give the Bulls a 100-91 lead entering the fourth quarter.
New York center Mitchell Robinson made his season debut after missing four games due to an injured left ankle and had 11 rebounds in 20 minutes.
–Field Level Media
