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Deng, Hinrich lead Bulls by stumbling Knicks

Dec 15, 2007 - 6:20 AM By Bruce Levine PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Luol Deng scored 13 of his 27 points in the third quarter as the Chicago Bulls posted a 98-91 victory over the New York Knicks on Friday.

But Deng was overshadowed by Kirk Hinrich, who had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists for Chicago, which has won six straight here vs. New York.

Hinrich became the first Bulls player to record a triple-double since Chris Duhon on November 2, 2005. Hinrich last accomplished the feat on February 28, 2004.

"I think I played well tonight but I haven't played my best game by any means," Hinrich said. "I can still be better out there."

The Knicks have dropped five in a row to fall to 6-16 - tied for the worst mark in the East with the Miami Heat.

"It's really important for us to get wins right now," Knicks forward Zach Randolph said. "We are last in the Eastern Conference in wins. We are better than our record shows."

Chicago entered the fourth quarter with a nine-point lead and upped it to 88-72 with 6:22 left in the period on a jumper by Andres Nocioni. But the Bulls watched as the Knicks chipped away to get very close late in the game.

"The Knicks got physical with us, and we didn't respond well to that," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. "We broke down in a couple of instances where we knew what they were going to do and still didn't stop it."

New York went on a 10-0 spurt capped by a 17-foot jumper by Randolph with 4:43 left to cut its deficit to 88-82. The Knicks continued to cut into their deficit and when Randolph drilled a 3-pointer with 25 seconds remaining, the Bulls led 95-92.

"It was too little, too late," Randolph said. "Guys were hitting shots, we just couldn't get a couple of late stops when we needed them."

However, Hinrich made four free throws and Ben Gordon nailed two in the final 23 seconds to ice the win.

Nocioni scored 17 points and rookie Joakim Noah also had 10 off the bench for Chicago, which shot 47 percent (39-of-83).

"We got good production out of our bench tonight," Skiles said. "Nocioni and Joakim brought us a lot of energy when we needed it."

Randolph had 27 points and 15 rebounds for his 12th double-double and Fred Jones scored 22 for New York, which shot 41 percent (36-of-87).