CHICAGO (AP) — Javonte Green set career highs with 25 points and 13 rebounds, Ayo Dosunmu scored 24 and the Chicago Bulls beat the New York Knicks 108-100 on Friday night.
Green, who spent much of the season in the G League, had the crowd roaring with his explosiveness and dunks.
DeMar DeRozan scored 20 and had 10 assists while Nikola Vucevic added 16 points and 13 rebounds. Andre Drummond grabbed 16 boards, and the Bulls overcame a big effort by Jalen Brunson to win the first of three meetings between the two teams over the final 10 days of the regular season.
Ninth-place Chicago leads Atlanta by a game in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls, who own the head-to-head tiebreaker, would host a play-in game if they finish with identical records.
Brunson had 35 points and 11 assists, but New York — tied with Orlando for the fourth-best record in the East — lost for the fourth time in five games.
Chicago led by 20 in the second quarter. The Knicks got within four in the third and outscored the Bulls 31-20 in the quarter. The Bulls got the lead back up to double digits in the fourth before New York made another push.
It was 101-97 when Green put back DeRozan’s missed 3 with just over two minutes remaining. The Knicks’ Isaiah Hartenstein made a free throw, but Vucevic answered with a 3 to make it 106-98.
New York’s Josh Hart, who scored a season-high 31 against Sacramento on Thursday, was ejected after his right foot struck Green in the head. Hart was stripped on a drive toward the basket near the end of the first quarter, and his leg kicked up and hit Green in the side of his head.
OG Anunoby played 28 minutes and scored 12 in his first appearance since March 16. The defensive stopper missed the previous nine games after his surgically repaired right elbow flared up.
UP NEXT
Knicks: Visit Milwaukee on Sunday night.
Bulls: Visit Orlando on Sunday night.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
