CHICAGO – Sluggish, sloppy, stupid.
This time, the Knicks missed Carmelo Anthony badly and magical 3-point rainbows weren’t falling out of the sky for them.
The Windy City became Letdown City as the Knicks played with none of the gusto, spark and offensive smarts that drove them to their destruction of the Heat.
Their surreal road trip that featured a buzzer-beating win in Charlotte and a Miami rout ended in a 93-85 ragged loss to Tom Thibodeau’s Bulls who don’t have Derrick Rose but played with a lot of defensive heart.
Miami hero Raymond Felton, still playing with a bruised left thumb, scored 27 points but made 9 of a whopping 30 shots from the field to make up for Melo’s MIA. The Thibodeau-led defense took away the Knicks’ strength – their 3-point shot – and they attempted only 23.
Felton said he hasn’t taken 30 shots since his high school days in South Carolina. “Do I like to take 30 shots?’’ Felton asked. “No. I’m not one of those point guards who like to take 30 shots.’’
The Knicks shot just 32.1 percent. “We were a little out of control with our offensive execution and I take the blame for some of that,’’ said Mike Woodson.
Melo missed his second straight game with a cut middle finger as he is saving it up for tonight at the Garden vs. the Nuggets, the team he bolted. The Knicks fell to 14-5 – still best in the East.
“(Melo) would’ve made a big difference,’’ Steve Novak said. “We’ll look forward to getting him back.’’
The Knicks are 7-0 at the Garden, the only unbeaten home club in the NBA. Of the Knicks’ 19 contests, 12 have been played away from MSG.
The Knicks didn’t take advantage of the ejection of Taj Gibson and a second-quarter injury to Bulls starting point guard Kirk Hinrich, letting ex-Knick Nate Robinson on the loose. Robinson, the former “Nate The Great,” scored 14 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds. The Bulls were also without Richard Hamilton.
Marco Belinelli, the Italian guard, scored 15 points in the first quarter and finished with 22 points. The Knicks will face another Italian Stallion tonight in Danilo Gallinari.
J.R. Smith had another terrible shooting night statistically as he was 4 of 14. Tyson Chandler had 14 points and 18 boards in the losing cause.
Was there a Miami letdown?
“It’s just different, this is more gritty, they make the game uglier so they slow it down,’’ Chandler said. “Miami speeds the game up. If we make half the open shots we missed tonight, we’re all laughing and joking and all happy. But we missed them.’’
Felton missed a host of runners and mid-range shots. He took only three 3-point attempts. “They sat back in the paint and made me attack the whole game,’’ Felton said. “They took my 3 away off the screen and roll. That’s why I took so many shots. I normally don’t take that many shots. I had to be aggressive and take that shot.’’
The Knicks seemed to age 10 years on their flight from Miami to Chitown. The Knicks were 0 for 6 with 5 turnovers in the first six minutes of the second period, going scoreless.
Robinson made a nice bounce pass to Jimmy Butler cutting to the basket for an easy layup in the final seconds of the third period to give the bulls a 67-65 lead entering the fourth and the Bulls made all the right plays in the final three minutes.
And the Knicks never could catch fire from downtown, even though Woodson said yesterday morning the club would continue launching 3-point missiles. They took 40-plus in Charlotte and Miami.
“Ray had great looks,’’ Woodson said. “I’ll take that any time. We didn’t shoot the 3-pointer well.’’
“We’ll take two of three on the road anytime said Novak,” who took just three 3-pointers. “but it will be good to go home.’’