Carmelo Anthony had 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists, Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah had big games against their former team, and the Knicks beat the short-handed Chicago Bulls 104-89 on Thursday night.
Rose scored 17 points in his return to Madison Square Garden after skipping the last game here, and Noah finished with 12 points and 15 rebounds as the Knicks snapped a three-game losing streak. Rookie forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas had a season-high 19 points.
The Knicks bounced back from a loss at the buzzer in Philadelphia on Wednesday to win for the first time this season on the second night of back-to-back games.
Dwyane Wade scored 22 for the Bulls, who were missing star swingman Jimmy Butler, Nikola Mirotic and Denzel Valentine, all because of illness. They dropped their third straight.
Playing without starting forward Kristaps Porzingis, New York won for just the second time in 11 games, a much-needed victory after the mystery surrounding Rose and then the team's second buzzer-beating loss of the month earlier this week.
Rose went home to Chicago on Monday without telling the team, returned to practice the next day and said his absence was for family reasons. The Knicks fined him but put him back in the starting lineup and he has played well in both games since.
He was cheered during pregame introductions and then helped the Knicks race to an 8-0 lead. They pulled away by limiting Chicago to 14 points in the third quarter, and the Bulls never mounted enough offense to make a serious dent.
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Butler and Mirotic both missed their second straight game. Valentine, who was coming off the highest-scoring game of his rookie season with 19 points on Tuesday against Washington, felt sick at the arena and was sent back to the hotel.
The Bulls ended up giving little-used, little-known rookie Paul Zipser his first career start at forward. He had a season-high seven points in just his 11th appearance of the season.
TIP-INS
Bulls: Jerian Grant, traded to Chicago in the deal that brought Rose to New York, scored 14 points off the bench. ... Chicago was 3 for 18 (16.7 percent) on 3-pointers.
Knicks: The Knicks are 1-7 on the second night of back-to-backs. ... Porzingis missed three games recently with the Achilles problem, and coach Jeff Hornacek said the injury could have contributed to Porzingis being short on his jumpers Wednesday, including the airball that led to the 76ers' winning shot. Hornacek said Porzingis had soreness and stiffness Thursday but there was no tear or sign of serious injury.
GOOD GUY
Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said he didn't know enough details about Rose's absence Monday to comment, but said he liked working with the point guard during their one season together.
"I enjoyed coaching Derrick last year," he said. "I'm glad everything is OK with Derrick and again, I will always wish Derrick nothing but the best."
ZIPSER'S CHANCE
Zipser had played in just one of the Bulls' five games this month, 10 all season and his high game was three points. But Hoiberg said when he told the forward from Germany's Bayern Munich that he would be starting, "He looked me right in the eye and said, 'I'll be ready, Coach.'"
UP NEXT
Bulls: Host the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday. Chicago swept the series in 2015-16 for the seventh time in 10 seasons.
Knicks: Visit Toronto on Sunday, trying to snap a four-game losing streak to the Raptors
