Today’s game is worth an additional three percentage points for the 2019 draft lottery odds because it’s the season series tie-breaker! So cinch up them sneaks, friends. If the Knicks lose, they gain a distinct advantage over the Bulls if and only if the Knicks lose today. If the Knicks win, the Bulls pull within three percentage points of the Knicks. That’s a six percent swing if the Knicks beat the Bulls! As it currently stands New York (14-62) is barely at risk of losing the season battle by winning because Chicago (21-56) has proven to be enough of a winner for the Knicks to lose. Having said that, I know losing has been winning for the greater part of the year, but winning in lieu of losing today would be an egregious blunder. Projected Starters Uh, WHAT!? How are the Knicks gonna lose to this crew!? I guess there’s some good news because the Bulls have called in the recruits. OFFICIAL: The Bulls have signed forward JaKarr Sampson to a 10-day contract. MORE: https://t.co/mdryR9ySRW pic.twitter.com/JMfUuD2edm — Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) March 31, 2019 Oh boy, I just don’t know if the Knicks can lose this one. Lauri Markkanen is done for the year. Otto Porter is out for at least four games. Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn are day-to-day. The Bulls are also without Wendell Carter Jr., Denzell Valentine and Chandler Hutchison who have each gone down for the year. Who is gonna walk through that door? OFFICIAL: Bulls sign Walt Lemon Jr. A Chicago native, Lemon Jr. appeared in 33 games this season for the Windy City Bulls, posting averages of 20.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 8.9 assists and 1.48 steals in 33.1 minutes per game. MORE: https://t.co/oalaRus777 pic.twitter.com/xdIHJbCDXm — Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) March 29, 2019 Ok, sure, Walt Lemon Jr., but who else? Dude, how are the Knicks gonna lose this one? They have finally committed to starting Mitchell Robinson which gives them so much more leverage to be ballsy and go for the glory. I am legitimately woried that they can win this game. The timing just simply could not be worse and there is so much at stake! Key Matchup I’m really excited to see the matchup of Damyean Dotson against Brandon... uh... [checks notes] Brandon Sampson. Yea. Should be interesting? Wait a second, look at this: Maybe there’s something there. When life gives you Walt Lemon, ask for some more lemons, make a lemonade and lemon bars. Lemon curd. Lemon merengue pie. Lemon chicken. Lemon cake. Lemon ice. Look, here, there’s a lot riding on this game. Make it work. Prediction The Knicks finally have enough talent to overmatch their opponent. Damn it. Normally that would be exciting but the huge swing in lottery odds just makes the this taste bitter. Robin Lopez will prove to be one of the most challenging opponents of the season for young Mitchell. Maybe there’s something there. Thankfully none of these guys are on the scouting report. Therefore the Knicks won’t know how to play them. Those precious three percentage points are secure. Knicks by -13. Warm Up Music J/K. Doesn’t matter either way.<doc-sep>Chicago Bulls (21-56) vs. New York Knicks (14-62) 6:30 p.m., NBC Chicago Sports Injury Report: No Zach LaVine. No Lauri Markkanen. No Otto Porter Jr. No Kris Dunn. No the rest of the guys who have already been ruled out this season. New York Knicks guard Allonzo Trier is out tonight with a strained left calf. Preview: The Bulls are basically fielding a G League team at this point. It’s cool to see some of these guys get an opportunity, but that’s obviously not an idealistic roster construction at the end of the season. JaKarr Sampson is the latest to get an opportunity. To be fair though, this isn’t his first rodeo, he just turned 26 and has played 169 NBA games in his career. Walter Lemon Jr. will make the start at point guard for the Bulls tonight against the Knicks. Coming off the bench, he scored a team-high 19 points to go along with six assists and four steals in the Bulls loss against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday. Brandon Sampson and Rawle Alkins, both G Leaguers as well, have also gotten some run here lately with the big league squad. Ryan Arcidiacono and Antonio Blakeney were two-way contract guys last season. While Arcidiacono has carved himself a niche at the NBA level with his highly cerebral, run-into-walls style of play, Blakeney has played like a glorified G Leaguer this season. He owns the lowest value over replacement player (VORP) on the team. Shaquille Harrison, Wayne Selden Jr., Cristiano Felicio, and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot have all had stints in the G League as well within the last four seasons. The Knicks, meanwhile, have crafted an even more masterful tank job. They’ve won just one game since March 1 to grab hold of the NBA’s worst record by a somewhat significant margin. With just six games to go and 14 wins to their name, the Knicks will likely finish the season with the worst record in their 73-season history (previous worst was 2014-2015 when they won 17 games).<doc-sep>Pull up a chair, young Knicks fans, for a story about what it used to mean when the Chicago Bulls came to Madison Square Garden to face the Knicks. There were stars, the brightest in the game, Patrick Ewing trying to live up to Michael Jordan. There was bad blood between the teams, and often real blood being cleaned up after a nasty blow was delivered. Back then, Phil Jackson was dubbed the Zen Master by Jeff Van Gundy and really seemed worthy of the title, hard to imagine as that may be for a fan who knows Jackson just from his tenure running the Knicks. And on Monday, there was something different, including a rare win by the Knicks, who ended a six-game losing streak with a 113-105 victory over the Bulls. Luke Kornet scored 24 points, Kevin Knox added 19 and Mitchell Robinson had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks. Robin Lopez scored 29 points and JaKarr Sampson added 22 for the Bulls. The Bulls came into the Garden, fittingly on April Fools’ Day, with a record that was 6 1⁄2 games better than the Knicks but still down in the depths of the NBA standings, and with only one of their regular starters in place, Lopez. While the others sat out with an assortment of injuries, in their place were Shaquille Harrison, Walt Lemon Jr., Wayne Selden Jr. and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot. Not exactly Jordan and Scottie Pippen, and not even Otto Porter Jr. and Kris Dunn. Then the Knicks countered with news just before the game that Dennis Smith Jr. was out with a sore lower back, joining Frank Ntilikina, Allonzo Trier and Noah Vonleh among their injured. DeAndre Jordan, the most established player on the roster, likely was sitting just because, well, why not? The Knicks (15-62) have not clinched the worst record in the NBA (Phoenix is 18-60), but they have assured themselves of finishing with one of the three worst records, all of which will have equal odds for the top pick in the NBA Draft lottery. The Bulls (21-57) have the fourth-worst record and still could slip into the bottom three if they work really hard at it. Subscribe to Newsday’s sports newsletter Receive stories, photos and videos about your favorite New York teams plus national sports news and events. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy. Knicks coach David Fizdale again was left to explain why the team should and would continue to play hard. “I just think for both of these teams, you’ve got a lot of young players,” he said. “You’ve got some guys that are free agents. These are important minutes for either their growth or for their future. Like I told our guys, don’t take any of it light. So we really stressed to the guys to play the game the right way.” The Knicks long since gave up playing their best players. They traded most of the veterans, waived Enes Kanter and Wes Matthews, and went with an assortment of players in a rotation that has little chance on most nights. Jordan is an odd case. He’s a player who could have helped a contender, but after he joined the Knicks in the Kristaps Porzingis trade Jan. 31, he opted not to ask out even though he is a free agent at season’s end. He still started most nights and even played 34 minutes last week against his former team, the Clippers. But when Fizdale put Robinson in the starting lineup Saturday, he opted not to play Jordan at all. “It was as needed,” Fizdale said of his decision not only to remove Jordan from the starting lineup for the final seven games but also to not play him. “I’m not going to throw him in a bad situation. That’s just out of respect. I’m not going to throw him out there. It has to be something where we really need his body.” Notes & quotes: Fizdale was asked about stories that the Knicks were aware of the sexual assault allegations against Kristaps Porzingis, but he had little to say. “Obviously, you never want to see anybody go through anything like that,” he said. “But other than that, I don’t have no comment.”<doc-sep>NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — In a matchup between two of the NBA’s worst teams, the New York Knicks were a little better. Luke Kornet scored a career-high 24 points and the Knicks ended a six-game losing streak with a 113-105 victory over the Chicago Bulls, who lost for the fifth straight time. The Knicks, an NBA-worst 15-62, held on after the Bulls (21-57) cut a 28-point lead down to five. “I just told the guys to hang in. Execute,” Knicks coach David Fizdale said. “Just get the guys to calm down and play the game.” Kevin Knox added 19 points, Damyean Dotson had 18 and Emmanuel Mudiay scored 17 for New York. Robin Lopez led the Bulls with a season-high 29 points. JaKarr Sampson scored 22 and fellow reserve Ryan Arcidiacono had 14. New York took its largest lead of the game at 59-31 on Mitchell Robinson’s free throws with 6:04 left in the second quarter. “We were moving the ball, getting out in transition and playing together,” said Dotson, who was 6 of 7 from 3-point range. “When we move it like that, we get more shots and we are more efficient.” Chicago scored the next six points and pulled to 64-47 at halftime. The Bulls drew within single digits for the first time since midway through the first quarter when Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot hit three free throws to make it 93-84 with 9:24 remaining. Chicago then cut it to 94-89 on Walter Lemon Jr.’s layup with 7:51 left but the Knicks responded with the next six points and went on a 9-2 run to re-open a double-digit lead, 103-91. “The lesson is we have to start better,” Bulls coach Jim Boylen said. “I thought their halfcourt pace to start the game was better than ours. I thought their ball movement was better than ours, and then we kind of figured it out after that.” The Bulls got as close as 112-105 on Sampson’s two free throws with 46 seconds left, but they did not score again. Robinson added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks. Wayne Selden Jr. scored 11 points and Luwawu-Cabarrot finished with 10 for Chicago, while Shaquille Harrison had 10 rebounds. Kornet was 8 of 11 from the field and 5 of 7 from beyond the arc as the Knicks shot 47.4% on 3-pointers and 50% overall. He was starting in place of DeAndre Jordan, who did not see action for the second straight game as Fizdale gives a longer look at Robinson and Kornet. “It’s always valuable to get on the court,” Kornet said. “I feel like the only time you can improve is to play in the games. Every single minute is valuable.” TIP-INS: Bulls: Chicago leads the series 122-106. They are only 45-65 on the road against New York after splitting the last four meetings at Madison Square Garden. Knicks: New York is 0-26 when scoring less than 100 points. The Knicks have allowed at least 100 points in all but four games this season. … Kadeem Allen left the game in the second quarter and did not return (concussion). . Dennis Smith Jr. was scratched prior to the game when “his back tightened up,” according to Fizdale. SITTING BULLS All of Chicago’s top scorers are out with injuries. Zach LaVine (23.7 ppg) missed his sixth game with a right thigh contusion and right patellar tendinitis. Lauri Markkanen (18.7 ppg) has missed three games while undergoing medical assessment. Otto Porter Jr. (17.5 ppg) has missed seven games with a right rotator cuff strain and Kris Dunn (11.3 ppg) has missed four games with a mild back strain. BLOCK PARTY Robinson blocked three shots and has 150. He has recorded at least one block in 34 straight games and has already set the Knicks franchise record for most blocks in a season by a rookie. The last time he failed to block a shot was on Dec. 12 against the Cavaliers. FOR STARTERS Lopez made his 32nd start of the season. The rest of Chicago’s starters: Selden (9), Harrison (7), Luwawu-Cabarrot (3), and Lemon (1) have started a total of 20 games for the Bulls. UP NEXT Bulls: Chicago visits Washington on Wednesday. Knicks: New York visits Orlando on Wednesday. (© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)<doc-sep>
The Knicks may have the NBA’s worst record, but the Bulls may have trotted out Monday the worst starting lineup anyone has seen this season. It was a lineup that made you think it was just an April Fool’s joke. In the finale of their six-game homestand, the Knicks built a 28-point lead in the first half and held on for a 113-105 victory at the Garden. In finishing 1-5 on the homestand, the Knicks broke a six-game losing streak and moved to a league-worst 15-62 with five games remaining. While the Knicks have locked up a bottom-three finish and their 14 percent chance at winning the Zion Williamson Lottery, the Bulls (21-57) are still trying to get there. Hence, Chicago rested some players and have injuries to others such as lottery pick, Wendell Carter, out for the season after thumb surgery, and Lauri Markkanen, being evaluated for a rapid heartbeat. The Bulls were also without Zach LaVine (knee tendinitis), Kris Dunn (back strain) and Otto Porter (strained shoulder). Hence, the team reprimanded for resting players late last season by commissioner Adam Silver, trotted out this anonymous lineup to join center Robin Lopez (29 points): Their Windy City G-League point guard Walt Lemon Jr., Shaquille Harrison, Wayne Selden and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot — the only one of the four who was an NBA draft pick. Lemon, Harrison and Cabarrot combined to shoot 9-for-33. New Knicks starting center Mitchell Robinson continued his rampage with 14 points, 10 and three blocks before sitting down midway through the third quarter with a sore right foot. He stayed on the bench, shoe off, wrapped in ice, but returned in the fourth quarter. Robinson is now tied with David Robinson for second all-time among rookies with 25 consecutive games with at least two blocks. Luke Kornet, starting his second straight game at power forward alongside Robinson, struck for a career-high 24 points. Kornet shot 8-of-11 — 5-of-7 from 3-point range. Point guard Kadeem Allen, who has impressed coach David Fizdale, was lost possibly for the season with a concussion after hitting his head hard in the first half.