Knicks fail to capitalize on healthy roster in loss to Bulls to cap ugly road trip

CHICAGO – The Knicks showed up on Halloween as a team at full strength.

It wasn’t a disguise, but it still felt like a ruse when they were walloped by the Bulls 135-125 on Friday night, a defeat summed up by a terrible start, a strong third quarter and a terrible finish. Even with Mitchell Robinson and Deuce McBride back in the lineup and everyone available, they trailed for the entire final 39 minutes.

The Knicks clawed back to cut the deficit to two in the fourth quarter. But the final 3 ¹/₂ minutes were ugly, with the visitors outscored and the match ending 15-9. Karl-Anthony Towns missed three consecutive wide-open treys in that stretch. He had 22 points with 10 boards.

Jalen Brunson could not prevent a third loss in a row. He recorded 29 points and dominated the ball with 25 shots.

The Knicks (2-3) again got nothing from the bench, which was defeated 53-21 by Chicago’s reserves. Josh Hart still looks lost and in pain, whether from his back or a surgically repaired finger. Newcomers Guerschon Yabusele and Jordan Clarkson were again not factors.

The Bulls are undefeated after five games and, together with the Sixers, are the big positive surprise of this young season. Josh Giddey, who finished with 32 points on Friday, is playing beyond expectations on a new contract and holds the keys to the offense. They are young and exciting and win with the style the Knicks want for themselves but struggle to find: with ball movement and cutting, pace and efficiency.

The Bulls are who the Knicks want to be. They are also younger and more athletic. The Knicks had their optimal rotation in place — with Robinson starting at center and McBride serving as the catalyst off the bench — but that didn’t matter.

Robinson played just 20 minutes with 11 rebounds and four points, appearing as if he were on a minutes restriction despite the coach’s insistence that he was not. McBride added just eight points in his worst performance of the season, outscoring the Knicks by 22 points with him on the court.

At least New York has its health.

“You always want to be at full strength. This is a marathon. This is a process,” Brown said. “There’s still a lot of room to grow. So having everyone on the floor just gives you more of an opportunity to get some continuity with the guys together. You want that as much as possible. It’s good to have it, probably for the first time tonight since I’ve been here.”

The loss capped an ugly 0-3 road trip for the Knicks, who play Chicago again on Sunday at MSG. The defeat was also part of the NBA Cup, meaning Mike Brown’s team now faces an uphill climb to get out of the group.

But the Knicks also have bigger things on their minds than Adam Silver’s regular season.

Brown wants to create a fearsome and formidable offense. There is plenty of work to do. So far, they play better when the pace is slowed, as they did in Friday’s third quarter, when the Knicks cut a 19-game deficit to two midway through the fourth quarter.

Then the Bulls took over.

“I worry more about us than our opponents and I think if you become elite at what you do and believe in what you do, you can do it at the highest level,” Brown said. “So for us, and it’s more about us, if we take care of the ball and execute our rules the right way, regardless of whether we play fast or slow, we can counter everyone’s transition. We want to try to play fast. We’re not playing as fast as I want to right now, but I don’t want to have to adapt every time I face an opponent. We want to make sure people adapt to us.”