CHICAGO — Kemba Walker scored 21 points, RJ Barrett added 20 and the New York Knicks hung on to hand the Chicago Bulls their first loss of the season 104-103 on Thursday night.
Julius Randle had 13 points and 16 rebounds. Derrick Rose came off New York’s bench to score 12 points against his former team as the Knicks won their second straight and improved to 4-1.
Chicago star Zack LaVine scored 25 points, despite playing with a torn ligament in his left thumb. The Bulls went on a 12-0 run in the final minutes to nearly tie the score in a game the Knicks seemingly had wrapped up.
LaVine’s dunk with 9.5 seconds left trimmed New York’s lead to one point after the Knicks held a 104-91 advantage with 2:59 left. LaVine’s thumb was taped up after he was injured Monday in Toronto.
Randle missed a pair of free throws with 4.7 seconds left to give Chicago the final possession, but DeMar DeRozan missed a 15-foot, pull-up shot as time ran out.
Nikola Vucevic had 22 points and DeRozan added 20 points for Chicago, which fell to 4-1 The Bulls’ 4-0 start was their best since 1996-97.
New York shot 45.9 % and just was a touch quicker and sharper from the floor for most of the game than Chicago, which shot 42.9%. New York pulled ahead by as many as 13 points in the third in a game that went from run-and-gun to deliberate and scrappy.
Immanuel Quickley made a long jumper with 1.3 second left in the first quarter to give New York a 27-25 lead.
The Knicks managed to stay ahead the rest of the way, although the Bulls made charges. When Chicago narrowed the lead — to as little as one point early in the third quarter — New York responded with scoring spurts.
The Knicks went on a 14-0 run early in the game to take a 16-6 lead. The Bulls responded with a 15-3 spurt and went ahead 21-19 on Alex Carusos’ 3-pointer from the right baseline.
The Knicks had the edge in the second quarter, never lost the lead and were ahead 55-51 at the half. New York outshot Chicago, 53.5% to 51.3% from the floor in a mostly up-tempo opening 24 minutes.
The Bulls narrowed New York’s advantage to two points twice in the second quarter, but never caught up. LaVine led all scorers with 17 points in the half.
Patrick Williams narrowed the Knicks’ lead to 57-56 with a pair of free throws early in the third quarter. New York responded with a 10-0 run.
Coach Billy Donovan acknowledged before the game that LaVine would have to deal with discomfort from his thumb, but the team’s medical staff didn’t recommend that the All-Star guard sit out.
