CHICAGO — The Knicks were dressed in their new, all-orange alternate uniforms on Halloween night, but they turned into pumpkins at United Center in the final seconds Thursday.
Derrick Rose became the hero and Carmelo Anthony the goat, turning the Bulls’ home-opener into as sweet a night as a trick-or-treat snack.
In his first regular-season game in Chicago in 19 months, Rose hit the game-winner on an impossibly tough 12-foot pull-up from the right baseline over the outstretched arms of Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton with 5.6 seconds left to give the Bulls a thrilling 82-81 win.
“That shot he made was a great shot,” Carmelo Anthony said. “It was a prayer, but he made it.”
Anthony had no response as he failed to deliver a big shot in the final two minutes. With a chance to win it, Anthony got the inbounds with seconds left and made his move, but bricked an 24-footer from the left side over Luol Deng.
Tyson Chandler, who also had a key missed free throw, missed the tip attempt at the buzzer and the Knicks fell to 1-1 despite a noble effort in rallying from 10 points down with 7:10 left.
“I was just trying to create some space between me and Luol,’’ Anthony said. “He was playing my 1-2 dribble pull-up pretty well. I knew if he backed up a little bit to get space, I had a good chance of that going in. I got the look I wanted. It just didn’t go in.’’
Anthony finished 8-of-24 for 22 points — 2-for-7 in the final period — and had four turnovers. He missed his last four shots.
Knicks coach Mike Woodson got huffy and ended the postgame interview when asked if there was a second option on the play if Anthony was overplayed — which he wasn’t. With J.R. Smith suspended and Andrea Bargnani not in great rhythm, Woodson put poised rookie Tim Hardaway Jr. on the court.
“I’ve seen Melo make amazing shots for our ballclub,’’ Woodson said. “I think that was a good shot for Melo. It just didn’t go in.’’
There were no bowed heads in the locker room after losing by a point to a club that beat the Knicks four straight times last season.
“I loved the effort tonight,’’ Anthony said. “We laid it all out on the court. Derrick Rose hit a phenomenal shot over Tyson and over the backboard. We’ll live with that.’’
Rose, playing with a sore neck and after sitting out all of last season rehabbing a torn ACL, finished with 18 points but shot just 7 of 23. The Knicks did a fine job defending Rose in the final quarter when they made their comeback.
“I thought we played great defense in the fourth quarter,’’ Chandler said. “You can’t ask for anything more. You want to walk away with a win. But the way we played tonight, we’re going to win our share of games if we play like this.’’
Woodson had no fault on the defense against Rose on his game-winner.
“Rose hit a helluva shot,’’ Woodson said. “The play he made at the end, I haven’t seen many guys do. A 15-foot floater over a 7-footer.’’
“I was right there,’’ Chandler said. “He made a big-time play. I don’t know if he saw the basket. I thought I could get a hand on it. He just got it over my hand.’’
Tied at 80, Anthony missed a forced 19-footer with the shot clock running down, but the Knicks got a break when the Bulls were called for a loose-ball foul on Joakim Noah with 10.8 seconds left.
Chandler missed the first three throw, but made the second one to put the Knicks up 81-80 — a lead that allowed Rose the crack he needed to win it.
“You make some, you miss some,’’ said Chandler, who had 19 rebounds. “They both felt good. One rolled in, one rolled out.’’
The Bulls (1-1) got the luckiest roll of all in the final ticks as the fans, brandishing orange Halloween glowsticks, exited in a festive mood.
“Luol got a hand up,’’ Bulls forward Carlos Boozer said. “Carmelo’s as good a scorer as we got in the league, to make him miss and then Joakim tapping it away, it’s great.’’