NEW YORK — Derrick Rose and Carmelo Anthony are all-star starters. Only Rose is the reigning MVP, and he was the one who owned Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.
Rose had 32 points, 13 assists and a basket seemingly every time the Knicks were poised to rally in the Bulls’ 105-102 victory.
“Every time I step on the court, they’re coming at me,” Rose said. “I love it where it’s a challenge like that. I’m not backing away from it, and I don’t want them to back away from it. It’s just ‘be on’ every night.”
This night brought relief for a Chicago team in the middle of a nine-game road trip and more distress for New York and its embattled coach. The Knicks opened a back-to-back-to-back with their 10th loss in 12 games.
“For the most part, we played extremely hard tonight,” Anthony said. “We’ve got to pat ourselves on the back for something. We can go and magnify the turnovers late in the second quarter; we still a chance to win the basketball game.”
Rose had 15 of his points in the fourth quarter, scoring on three consecutive possessions during one spectacular 79-second burst. He split Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire to flip in a shot from past the backboard, then hit a 3-pointer to put the Bulls up 95-88 with less than six minutes left.
Stoudemire had a season-high 34 points and 11 rebounds but missed a shot from beyond his normal range — a 3-point attempt with 11.9 seconds remaining — that would have tied the score.
“He can make that shot as well as anybody,” coach Mike D’Antoni said.
Said Stoudemire: “That shot normally falls for me.”
Anthony had 26 points but just four in the fourth quarter and missed a desperation 3 at the buzzer that would have sent the game to overtime. Twice in the last 92 seconds with the Knicks trailing by three, he had his shot blocked.
New York still had its chances. Landry Fields’ baseline drive with 23.4 seconds left pulled the Knicks within 1. New York had no choice but to foul Kyle Korver, a 74 percent free-throw shooter, with 13.7 seconds to go. He hit both.
