Ayo Dosunmu’s 24 were huge as the Bulls won by eight on Friday, but Javonte Green had a career night with 25 and the Bulls needed all of it.
Mark Black/AP
The Bulls needed to truly embrace these three games with Tom Thibodeau’s New York crew over the next 10 days.
After all, it might be the closest to a playoff-series feel that the Bulls experience this season.
At least they played with that sense of urgency on Friday, beating the Knicks 108-100 at the United Center. And a timely win it was, especially considering the circumstances.
The victory kept the Bulls (37-40) in the No. 9 spot of the Eastern Conference, now a full game ahead of idle No. 10 Atlanta with five to play. The Bulls also own the tiebreaker over the Hawks, so it was really like a two-game lead.
More importantly than that, Bulls coach Billy Donovan liked the test it presented his players.
“Yeah, I like it from the standpoint of, one it’s been pretty well documented with what’s happened with the way the games are being officiated now,” Donovan said. “And then coupled with this, this is like playoff basketball. It’s good. I like it.”
The two teams will meet again in Chicago on Tuesday, and then put a bow on the regular season in an April 14 afternoon game in the Big Apple.
“It will be a great physical challenge for us,” Donovan continued. “I thought coming out of the Minnesota game, another team that’s high in the standings, very physical, very good defensive team. Atlanta has made some significant progress defensively the last few weeks. This is what it’s like at the end of the year, playing against these types of teams, and I think it can only be helpful for us going against it.
“There’s certain things you have to do physically, and at times we’ve struggled with that quite honestly, whether it’s on the backboard or trying to win the point of the screen.”
Neither were struggles in Friday’s meeting, however, as the Bulls outrebounded the visiting team 57-38, and was more than physical in the screen game. Actually, the Knicks might have come into the meeting a little over the top in the physicality department, evident with Josh Hart getting ejected with 34 seconds left in the first quarter.
Hart was hit with a Flagrant 2 for what was deemed a kick to the head of Javonte Green.
Really the only way the Knicks could even slow Green down.
Making his fourth appearance since the Bulls brought Green back to the roster from the G-League, all Green did was score a career-high 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting, while also grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds, including five on the offensive end.
Not bad for a guy that teams stayed away from in free agency last summer because he was coming off knee surgery.
Considering the Bulls lost Coby White in the second quarter with a sprained ankle, Green’s breakout game was not only welcomed but needed.
“I thought his energy was terrific and changed the game in a lot of ways for us,” Donovan said. “He’s hungry to play. He gets himself up and ready to play. He just goes out there. He’s just that kind of guy.”
Not that the Bulls didn’t make it hard on themselves, building a 20-point lead in the first half, only to watch it evaporate to four with 2:29 left in the game.
A put-back dunk by Green and then a Nikola Vucevic three-pointer 30 seconds later, however, sealed it.
“The energy, the enthusiastic style of play he brings, the person he is off the court, he’s one of those guys that you want to have on your team,” veteran DeMar DeRozan said of Green’s latest masterpiece. “For him to bounce back from, you know, a tough year for him, come out and doing what he’s been doing since he came back is amazing.”