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Bulls, Knicks put streaks to the test at MSG

Apr 12, 2011 - 3:02 PM (Sports Network) - Sixty wins and the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs should land Tom Thibodeau of the Chicago Bulls Coach of the Year honors. Thibodeau's squad is still in the running for the league's best record and will take a seven-game winning streak into New York tonight.

The Central champion Bulls will wrap up a three-game road trip and have won six straight as the visitor. They improved to 25-15 away from the Windy City with Sunday's close 102-99 victory in Orlando, as MVP candidate Derrick Rose sank 13-of-17 shots for 39 points.

Luol Deng had 15 points and Carlos Boozer posted 12 for Chicago, which will play Indiana in the first round of the playoffs and is the East's top team since the 1997-98 campaign, when the Michael Jordan-led Bulls won their third straight and sixth NBA title in eight years.

"We were very fortunate, they made 12 threes," Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau said. "We got lucky."

Orlando seemed to tie the game at the buzzer, but Jameer Nelson's successful three-pointer left his hands after the final horn. The Bulls managed to win even without Magic star Dwight Howard, who was suspended for one game for collecting his 18th technical foul of the season in Wednesday's 111-102 overtime win in Charlotte.

The Bulls will host New Jersey on Wednesday in the regular season finale. They can capture the NBA's best record by winning out, while San Antonio (61-19) has to lose both of its remaining games. Boozer, meanwhile, is listed as probable for Tuesday with a sore left ankle.

New York is heating up at the right time and is the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race. It has won seven in a row and will host Chicago before closing out the regular season in Boston on Wednesday.

The Knicks made it seven straight victories with a 110-109 triumph at Indiana in the finale of a perfect three-game road trip, as Carmelo Anthony put his team ahead for good on a basket with 4.9 seconds to go and finished with 34 points. Anthony has scored 20-plus points in 12 straight games and is averaging 30.9 points on .494 shooting during the winning streak.

"That was designed for (Chauncey Billups) to come off and me to come and get the ball," said Anthony, who earned Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors. "The shot was cool but (the Pacers) still had time to come back down and get a shot."

Pacers guard Darren Collison's shot fell off the mark on the other end.

Billups finished with 21 points and seven assists for the Knicks, who did not have power forward Amare Stoudemire for a second straight game because of a sprained left ankle suffered in a win at Philadelphia last week. He is questionable for tonight's home game versus Chicago.

New York is unbeaten in its last four home games and is 23-17 at Madison Square Garden this season. It has won the first two meetings of the season with the Bulls and is trying to sweep the series for the first time since taking all three matchups in the 1999-00 campaign.

These two teams have split the last 12 matchups at MSG. Knicks guard Toney Douglas is averaging 19 points in two meetings with the Bulls in 2010-11, and had 30 in a 120-112 win back on Nov. 4 at the United Center.