NEW YORK—Lauri Markkanen had knocked down eight 3-pointers and almost knocked out his coach with a soaring slam, but Kris Dunn couldn’t get anything to fall.He kept shooting, and eventually hit the shot that put the Bulls on top for good.Markkanen scored a season-high 33 points, Dunn shook off a nightmarish shooting night to make the tiebreaking basket in the second overtime, and the Bulls beat the New York Knicks 122-119 on Wednesday night.
”It was a hard-fought win,” Markkanen said. ”We could have ended it a little bit earlier, but (that’s) just how we won.”
Dunn had missed 14 of his first 17 shots before banking in a runner with just under a minute left in the second extra period and Markkanen finished it off by making two free throws with 6.8 seconds remaining.The rookie added 10 rebounds.
”For Lauri to come in on the big stage, the World’s Most Famous Arena, and hit eight 3s and play against arguably the best power forward in the league in Porzingis, play 46 minutes and hit those big free throws late, just tells you everything you need to know,” coach Fred Hoiberg said.
Robin Lopez and Denzel Valentine each scored 20 points for the Bulls in their third narrow victory over the Knicks this season. Markkanen was 8 of 15 behind the arc though his highlight play was at the rim, when he threw down a dunk over Knicks center Enes Kanter .
”I damn near passed out when he dunked that one,” Hoiberg said.”When he took that full court and just cocked it back, I was speechless. I got chills. It was crazy.”
Michael Beasley 26 points and 12 rebounds off the bench for the Knicks, who lost for the eighth time in 10 games. Kristaps Porzingis finished with 24 points, including a dunk at the buzzer to force the second OT.
`We had opportunities. We didn’t get stops at crucial times,” Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said.
Lopez then had the first two baskets of the second OT, and after the Knicks got the next two, Dunn made his shot to make it 118-116. He’d had plenty of easier looks that didn’t fall, but his teammates and coaches told him to keep shooting.
”The mid-range, that’s my shot, and I kept getting to my spots,” Dunn said. ”I liked the shot and it wasn’t falling, and the fact that the sky floater goes in is just like, all right, if that’s going to go in, then we’re going to have to accept it.”
Jarrett Jack had 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his first triple-double in six years, but threw away a pass after coming up with a steal with the Knicks down two late in the second OT.Nikola Mirotic missed his second straight game with an illness. … The Bulls ended a four-game losing streak in New York.