The Chicago Bulls got off to a tough start this season with a loss against the Miami Heat to open the year and now Derrick Rose and his buddies will try and rebound against the New York Knicks on Thursday night, as they will host Carmelo Anthony and his team at the United Center for the home opener on TNT starting up at 8 pm and streaming on the radio on ESPN 1000 in Chicago.
The Bulls have high expectations for the season after getting Rose back and he will be playing his first game at the United Center in the regular season since before last season after missing the entire schedule in 2012-13 and now he gets the chance to start fresh at home. Rose looked solid on his knee on Tuesday against the Miami Heat and LeBron James, but he is a game-time decision for the game on Thursday, as he has a stiff neck and he will need to be on the court for the Bulls to get a win. The team started off well against the Heat, but Miami pulled out to a huge lead in the second quarter and by the time the Bulls started catching up, it was too late and Carlos Boozer led the way with 31 points and seven rebounds and now Rose will get another chance to start things up.
Check here for the Bulls and Knicks ESPN Radio coverage or for the live stream from the Chicago and New York matchup.
LeBron led the way for Miami against the Chicago Bulls with a 17-point performance and the team comes in trying to get everyone back in line with Joakim Noah and Luol Deng playing solid on Tuesday. The Knicks know that they will likely have to go through a team like the Chicago Bulls in the playoffs and the game on Thursday will be a nice test for the team to see how they measure up. Carmelo Anthony won a scoring title last season and he led the way for the Knicks in their opening matchup against the Bucks, although the team blew a huge lead against them at the Garden, in the first game since opening the new renovations.
Anthony led the Knicks with 19 points and 10 rebounds against the Bucks and he will have to be at the top of his game once again this season for the Knicks to have a deep playoff run. Jim Dolan has stated that he wants a championship and that will be tough, as anyone who wants to win the east has to go through the Miami Heat, who have obviously won the conference three years in a row, getting the past two championship banners. The east is solid up at the front of the standings with the Miami Heat on top and the Knicks will have to deal with the Indiana Pacers, Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls and maybe even the Detroit Pistons to get through the conference this season.
The Knicks have added a high number of new players and this could be one of the best teams that Anthony has played with since he has been in NY. Metta World Peace should be a solid defensive player and they will need him up against the Bulls, as he could help copy what Miami did to Derrick Rose and the offense on Tuesday. The Bulls were not efficient from the floor and the Knicks will try and have a solid performance on Thursday on the road in what could be a postseason type atmosphere. The Knicks have come tough games coming up, including against the Hawks, Spurs, Pacers and Rockets next month and this will be a good litmus test for the team. The Knicks and the Bulls will play in Game 1 of the TNT doubleheader on Thursday night starting at 8 pm from the Staples Center.