Knicks knock down weary Bulls

NEW YORK – Carmelo Anthony scored 27 points and the New York Knicks beat the weary Chicago Bulls 107-91 on Saturday night for their fourth straight victory.

A night after losing a four-overtime game in Chicago, the Bulls started well and had a strong third quarter, but the rest of the night mostly belonged to the Knicks.

Arron Afflalo added 18 points for New York, which got back to .500 at 14-14 after winning just 17 games last season. Lance Thomas scored 13 off the bench.

Joakim Noah had a season-high 21 points for the Bulls in his first start of the season. Rookie forward Bobby Portis had the best night of his brief career with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

The Bulls’ 147-144 home loss to Detroit finished about 20 hours before Saturday’s tip-off at Madison Square Garden, and they didn’t get to their New York hotel until after 4 a.m. Pau Gasol didn’t even make the trip after playing 48 minutes Friday, remaining behind in Chicago for rest and treatment for some recent soreness.

Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose both started after playing 56 and 54 minutes, respectively, but were without their usual sharpness. Butler was 4 of 11 for 12 points a night after scoring 43, while Rose played 20 minutes and had six points on 3-of-10 shooting.

Still, the Bulls looked fine early in racing to a 12-2 lead. But the Knicks dominated the remainder of the first quarter, particularly when the teams went to their reserves, and led 25-18 entering the second.

Anthony scored 19 in the first half, but Chicago was down only nine after three. The Knicks’ reserves then opened the fourth with eight quick points to extend it to 85-68 and they remained comfortably ahead from there.

New York shot 50 percent against a Chicago team that came in limiting teams to an NBA-low 41.3 percent but was understandably a step slow in this one.

In Oklahoma, Kevin Durant had 22 points and eight rebounds, Enes Kanter had 19 points and 14 rebounds and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 118-78, for their eighth straight home victory.

In other results, Washington clipped Charlotte, 109-101; Memphis subdued Indiana, 96-84; and the Houston Rockets blasted the Los Angeles Clippers, 107-97.

Back in Oklahoma, Russell Westbrook added 13 points and 11 assists for his 18th double-double of the season for Oklahoma City. The Thunder won for the fifth straight time against the Lakers.

Kobe Bryant sat for Los Angeles with a sore right shoulder, and the Lakers started seldom-used rookie Anthony Brown in his place. Lou Williams scored 20 points and Jordan Clarkson added 15, but the Lakers lost for the 15th time in 17 games.

The Lakers’ point total was their second-lowest this season and the lowest by an Oklahoma City opponent since the Thunder beat the Miami Heat 93-75 on March 22. The Thunder flirted with breaking their record for margin of victory, which is 45 points.

Bryant sat in street clothes on the Lakers’ bench while Durant and Westbrook quickly took control for Oklahoma City.

Facing the inexperienced Brown, Durant went 5 of 7 from the field in the first half and hit both of his 3-point attempts. His first came a little more than 3 minutes into the game to cap an 8-0 Thunder run.

Durant scored 14 first-quarter points to help the Thunder lead 35-15 at the quarter’s end. The Thunder had seven dunks in the first half, three of them alley-oops from Westbrook to Steven Adams. Meanwhile, the Lakers threw five passes out of bounds, and the Thunder led 67-41 at halftime.

The Lakers came no closer than 25 points in the second half and Westbrook and Durant spent the entire fourth quarter on the bench.