For the final two weeks of the regular season, the Chicago Bulls can get used to seeing the New York Knicks.
Friday night’s game at the United Center was the first of three meetings with the Knicks in the Bulls’ final six games. Coach Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks return to the UC on Tuesday, and the teams close the season April 14 at Madison Square Garden.
For the Bulls (36-40) — who entered Friday’s game with a half-game lead on the Atlanta Hawks for the ninth seed and home-court advantage in the play-in tournament — this closing stretch is critical.
“Playing New York three times, there will be some more familiarity for both teams,” coach Billy Donovan said after practice Thursday at the Advocate Center.
The Knicks are already familiar enough to the Bulls. Thibodeau, who coached the Bulls from 2010 to 2015, has guided the Knicks to a 45-31 record as they jockey for Eastern Conference playoff seeding. They entered Friday tied with the Orlando Magic for fourth, only two games behind the second-place Milwaukee Bucks.
The Bulls roster has turned over several times since the Thibodeau era, but the team’s veterans are accustomed to the longtime NBA coach’s style and presence.
Forward DeMar DeRozan, who played for Thibodeau when he was an assistant coach for Team USA, said he holds the Knicks coach in high respect.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile on the sidelines or laugh or crack a joke,” DeRozan said with a laugh. “You’ve got to love that in your coach. His attitude is very indicative of the teams he has coached.”
Another familiar face for the Bulls is the Knicks’ breakout star, point guard Jalen Brunson. The 2015 Mr. Basketball in Illinois at Stevenson, Brunson leads the team in scoring (27.9 points per game) and assists (6.6 per game) in his second season in New York.
Donovan has tracked Brunson’s career from a young age. He coached Brunson on the U.S. under-18 team before Brunson’s senior high school season — and started current Washington Wizards guard Tyus Jones over the younger Brunson, something the Knicks guard never has let Donovan live down.
With fellow All-Star Julius Randle out since Jan. 27 with a dislocated right shoulder that will require season-ending surgery, Brunson has been on a hot streak. He put up back-to-back 40-point games last month against the Portland Trail Blazers (45) and Sacramento Kings (42), and he dropped 61 points in a loss to the San Antonio Spurs on March 29.
Both Donovan and DeRozan said Brunson’s ascendance is no surprise to anyone who has coached or played against him since his rookie season with the Dallas Mavericks in 2018-19.
“He’s an All-Star for a reason,” DeRozan said. “He’s leading his team to the success that they’ve had. He’s one of the most dangerous players in our league. You’ve got to respect him.”
But despite Brunson’s strong play, the Knicks have struggled in recent weeks, following the defeat in San Antonio with two more losses to go 4-4 in their last eight games. With the standings bunched behind the top-seeded Boston Celtics, the Knicks have a strong impetus to secure a top-four finish and home-court advantage in the first round.
The Bulls face a more desperate version of the same pressure. Though they clinched a play-in spot Monday, they have stumbled dangerously close to falling from ninth to 10th, which would mean opening the tournament on the road.
Because they own the tiebreaker, the Bulls need only to finish tied with the Hawks to eke out the ninth seed. But to accomplish that goal, they’ll have to go through the Knicks.
“Every one of these games is important to us, just to be playing the right way, get back to being competitive every single night,” DeRozan said. “Understanding these games going into the play-in games is everything for us, to be playing our best basketball we can be playing.
“Whether that’s the Knicks three times in a row or whoever it might be, we’ve got to take advantage of these games.”