Knicks outlast Chicago at The Garden

The New York Knicks got back to winning ways on Wednesday night with victory against the Chicago Bulls, taking another step towards a return to the playoffs. The Bulls suffer a set back in their push to make the play-in tournament as they played their eight straight game without Zach LaVine.

Just like on Monday night against the Suns, New York started hot on both ends of the court as they racked up an early double digit lead.

The Bulls began the game 0-8 from deep as the Knicks were led by Julius Randle & RJ Barrett who combined for 22 of the Knicks 32 points in the opening quarter (14 & 8). Randle was looking to bounce back after struggling against Phoenix as the Knicks finished the first with a 13 point lead.

Chicago began to eat into the New York lead early in the second quarter and they closed to within two points but in a game of runs, the Knicks quickly stretched their lead back out to 11.

The Bulls stayed in touch with Nikola Vucevic stepping up in the absence of LaVine and after trailing by as many as 18 in the first half the visitors went in down by four points. HT: Bulls 48-52 Knicks.

The Knicks came out for the second half looking to re-affirm their domination and doubled their lead to eight points in the opening minutes of the fourth.

The momentum was with Chicago however and they took the lead thanks to a layup from Tomas Satoransky. Just like in the first half, this spell from the Bulls appeared to re-ignite the Knicks as they quickly re-established the lead thanks to a Julius Randle three.

The Knicks all-star notched up seven points in the quarter to keep the Knicks in front but the lead was just one point heading into the final period.

New York were 17-0 at the Garden when leading going into the fourth quarter and Immanuel Quickley made sure they would extend that record.

The Knicks rookie dropped an impressive 11 points in the opening four minutes of the fourth to re-establish the Knicks double-digit lead before getting into foul trouble. Quickley was the catalyst for New York in the fourth but luckily he had done enough work to give Randle & Barrett the platform to come in and ice the win.

New York's star duo combined for 13 points in the final minutes of the game to secure the Knicks a 19 point win. Randle finished with 34 pts 7 rebs & 3 assists with Barrett contributing 22 pts 7 rebs 6 ast 2 stl & 1 block in a complete performance.

The Knicks take sole control of fourth place in the East ahead of six game Western Conference road trip while the Bulls sit two games outside the play-in tournament places. Final Score at MSG: Bulls 94-113 Knicks.