Twice as Nice

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Jan 17, 2005 9:55PM

The Bulls played a matinee today in celebration of the Martin Luther King holiday. Facing off against the New York Knicks for the second time in three days, the Bulls knocked off the Knicks 88-86 at Madison Square Garden. While a tight game throughout, the Bulls were playing from behond for most of the game. Having taken the lead late in the third quarter, the Knicks reclaimed the lead. But a key 3-pointer by Andres Nocioni tied the game with less than a minute to play. After 40 scoreless seconds, the Bulls inbounded the ball following a foul with 16 seconds left. Running down the clock, rookie Ben Gordan -- playing his first pro game in his home town -- hit a floater with 0.01 seconds left giving the Bulls the two-point win.

The Bulls beat this same Knicks team Saturday afternoon at the United Center by the same margin, winning that game 86-84. Saturday's game was won by an Eddy Curry layup with 2.4 seconds to go that capped a rally from 9 points down entering the 4th quarter.

The two wins over the Knicks this holiday weekend have extended their winning streak to 7 games and put the Bulls one win from the .500 mark for the season. Pretty impressive for a team starting 0-9.