CHICAGO — This was the best sign of all the Knicks might be for real.
On a night Amar’e Stoudemire stunk out the United Center, the rest of the Knicks rained 3-pointers from all over the Windy City and won anyhow.
Danilo Gallinari broke his slump and lifted the Knicks in the first half. A terrific Toney Douglas carried them in the second half with a career-best performance. And Raymond Felton gave a Steve Nash-like performance.
These efforts led the Knicks — hotter than the Great Chicago Fire from 3-point distance — to a significant, nationally televised 120-112 shootout victory over the Bulls to move to 2-2.
Coach Mike D’Antoni’s up-tempo attack shredded Tom Thibodeau’s Bulls defense, as the Knicks knocked in 16 of 23 3-pointers (69.6 percent). The Knicks play host to the Wizards tonight at the asbestos-free Garden.
Gallinari scored 21 of his 24 points in the first two quarters, and Douglas struck for a career-high 30 points, making 9 of 14 shots. Douglas also had four steals, four assists and one turnover. Felton scored 20 points with 10 assists.
The Knicks routed the Bulls despite a wretched outing by Stoudemire, who scored 14 points on 5-of-21 shooting. He also missed a late uncontested dunk and committed eight turnovers.
“Tonight’s a great indication on how good we can play,” Stoudemire said. “Teams’ scouting report [against the Knicks] is clogging the lane and letting us shoot. They did that and we shot well.
“Some nights I’m still trying to figure out the flow of the offense and guys playing well is definitely a positive for us.”
The Knicks showed no signs of rust from their unexpected four-day layoff and racked up 70 points by halftime.
D’Antoni said the break allowed them to work on “certain concepts” — moving the ball and not resorting to one-on-one play.
“Any good defense if you move the ball, you’ll get open shots,” Douglas said.
“I’m encouraged with what I have seen,” D’Antoni said. “We’ve won two games with Amar’e not playing al that well. Gallo, Toney, Raymond, they lit it up.”
Thibodeau, a former longtime Knicks assistant, is now a head-coaching rookie. Some Knicks fans wondered if the franchise’s direction would have turned for the better had the defensive-minded Thibodeau been named coach.
After taking out Derrick Rose in the fourth quarter, Thibodeau heard chants of “We Want Rose” when the Bulls fought back late to single digits, but he never put him back in. Rose went for 24 points and a career-high 14 assists.
“The second unit I thought fought hard to close it, and I wanted to see what they could get out of it,” Thibodeau said.
Rose was not available for comment afterward, but Luol Deng (17 points) said it was the right decision to make.
“That group that came in did a better job than us,” he said.
The Bulls, still playing without injured Carlos Boozer, were the league’s best 3-point defensive team before the Knicks’ “three” party.
Gallinari’s 3-pointer with 3:58 left jacked the Knicks lead to 111-99 and iced it. Felton and Douglas kept sinking huge treys in the second half to repel other Bulls’ rallies. Felton knocked in 4 of 6 3-pointers. Douglas was 5 of 9 from outside the arc.
The Knicks blitzed the Bulls 36-22 in the second quarter and led by 18 at the half. Douglas sparked their surge with a coast-to-coast layup, and then Douglas, who has improved his perimeter shot, caught fire from downtown.
“That’s just how I felt out there, confident,” said Douglas, whose offseason Westchester work delighted the coaching staff.
Gallinari finished with 21 points at the half after entering averaging 5 points on 20 percent shooting. He played aggressively underneath, too, ripping down a couple of offensive rebounds, including a putback dunk.
Gallinari’s sore right wrist was no longer wrapped and he said it was feeling better, though not 100 percent.
“I was more prepared to do what I am supposed to do, what I am good at,” he said. “We know it’s not going to be like this every night, and we will have to find another way to win.”