The New York Knicks (17-16) head to the United Center for a Wednesday night matchup against the Chicago Bulls (11-22).
The Knicks have lost two straight, most recently a 105-98 defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers on Christmas Day. The loss came despite a career game from Enes Kanter who scored 31 points and grabbed 22 rebounds. New York struggled shooting from the field (40.4 percent), on threes (4-15, 26.7 percent), and from the charity stripe (18-28, 64.3 percent).
Chicago went on the road and defeated the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday by the score of 115-106.
The game was tied entering the fourth quarter, but the Bulls outscored Milwaukee 32-23 in the final 12 minutes. Nikola Mirotic led the team with 24 points off the bench while Kris Dunn had 20 with 12 assists.
Likely starters
Knicks: PG - Jarrett Jack, SG - Courtney Lee, SF - Lance Thomas, PF - Kristaps Porzingis, C - Enes Kanter
Bulls: PG - Kris Dunn, SG - Justin Holiday, SF - Denzel Valentine, PF - Lauri Markkanen, C - Robin Lopez
Knicks/Bulls leaders
Knicks: Scoring - Kristaps Porzingis 24.6, Rebounding - Enes Kanter 10.4, Assists - Jarrett Jack 6.0
Bulls: Scoring - Lauri Markkanen 14.2 (Nikola Mirotic 18.5 in 10 games), Rebounding - Lauri Markkanen 7.6, Assists - Kris Dunn 5.9
Known injuries
Knicks: Out - Tim Hardaway Jr.
(leg)
Bulls: Out - Zach LaVine (knee), Cameron Payne (foot)
What to know heading into Wednesday's game
Since missing two games with a sore knee, Kristaps Porzingis has struggled mightily shooting the ball in his three games after returning. He is 18-58 from the field (31.0 percent) which includes a 0-11 performance in his first game back against the Boston Celtics.
Especially on the road where they are 2-10 on the season, the Knicks have to do a better job starting the game than they did in their previous outing against the Bulls on December 9. Chicago got off to a 22-9 lead and held a 27-18 advantage after one quarter.
While Chicago enters Wednesday tied for the fifth worst record, they have been a completely different team once Nikola Mirotic returned from injury.
They won their first seven games with him in the lineup and are now 8-2 overall. They have scored 100+ points in nine of those 10 games, something they only accomplished eight times in 23 outings with him out.
Knicks/Bulls regular season history
The Knicks and Bulls have met 223 times in the regular season with Chicago holding a 119-104 advantage in the win column.
The two teams met in Chicago on December 9 with the Bulls edging out the Knicks by the score of 104-102. Before that game, New York had won the previous five matchups.
