The New York Knicks are heading into a big matchup on Thursday with the Chicago Bulls and the team will be looking for its second straight win after taking down the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night at MSG, as they will travel to the United Center to face off against Derrick Rose and company.
Carmelo Anthony comes into the game after leading the team in scoring and rebounding against the Bucks and while the Knicks looked impressive while jumping out to a 25-points lead, the team couldn't hold onto that and ended up with a 90-83 win. Allowing that many points has put the team at number one in team defense this season through one game and it follows last year after the team finished in the top 10 in scoring on defense, allowing under 100 per game. This season the team will need to continue playing solid defense and while they held the Bucks to 83 points, they allowed a big comeback and that could be something that follows the team on certain lineups this season, including when Carmelo Anthony and Andrea Bargnani are on the floor together.
Anthony played well in his first game of the season, while Bargnani was not at his best, playing in just 17 minutes and scoring six points in the matchup. This season Bargnani will be expected to score a bit and his three point shooting also could be an asset, but on Wednesday night it was not, as he missed all three of his long range shots and now he will have the chance to try and rebound against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday at the United Center. Bargnani was one of the prize acquisitions by the Knicks this offseason, as they traded for him from the Raptors and after getting off to a slow start, he will be expected to do more on Thursday at the United Center against the Bulls.
The Knicks ended up winning the game and that is what matters early, but if the team wants to come through for James Dolan, who wants a championship this season, they will have to play better than they did against the Bucks. The Bulls should be pretty motivated to win at home to start their United Center season after losing to the Miami Heat and even with Derrick Rose being a game-time decision for the matchup, it still should be a tough test for New York. The east is not as deep this season as the west is and teams like the Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat and Brooklyn Nets along with the Indiana Pacers are likely to be the top teams in the conference going forward.
The Knicks and the Bulls will be playing at 8 pm on Thursday for the United Center debut for Chicago this season and the first game back for Derrick Rose and it will be on TNT at 8 pm in the first game of a doubleheader.