Since the dynasty ended and the slow parade of misfits such as Dalibor Bagaric and Corey Benjamin decorated–or desecrated–the United Center, the Bulls have reached the 47-victory mark twice.
One time, Eddy Curry lived it. On Tuesday night, he watched it.
That’s the proper verb choice, too, because Curry and his Knicks did little but spectate on a night they offered zero resistance in a 98-69 Bulls blowout before a sellout crowd of 22,296.
The Bulls are focused on matters at hand, not milestones, so the 47-victory mark does little for them other than keep alive the possibility of a publicly stated goal of a 50-triumph season.
Of more importance, the blowout tied in nicely with the Bulls’ mind-set of taking care of business seriously and efficiently. They know if they win out–three games remain–it won’t matter what the Cavaliers do.
In that case, the Eastern Conference’s second seed will be theirs.
“We just want to be playing good basketball,” coach Scott Skiles said. “If we do, we’ll win our share. Whether we can win them all or not, I don’t know. But I don’t know if Cleveland can either. It looks like it on paper. But anything can happen at this time of year.”
Except, it seems, a Knicks victory. Riddled with injuries, they have lost 10 of 12 and have relied heavily on Curry.
Booed during player introductions, Curry managed just four points and seven rebounds while committing three turnovers in 22 foul-plagued minutes.
Ben Gordon’s 23 points and seven assists led the Bulls, who rested their starters the entire fourth quarter.
Ben Wallace, still not 100 percent after battling sinusitis last week, grabbed 10 rebounds.
Kirk Hinrich added 13 points, five rebounds and five assists in just 17 minutes. He battled foul trouble early and exited for good with 4 minutes 7 seconds left in the third quarter after knocking knees with Nate Robinson and walking gingerly on his right leg.
The Bulls’ demeanor down the stretch of the blowout didn’t sit well with Knicks center Jerome James, who had to be restrained by teammates from going after Bulls players in the hallway after the game.
Robinson and Tyrus Thomas also exchanged words as the players left the court.
This game got out of hand early.
The Knicks missed eight of their first nine shots and committed a staggering seven turnovers in the first 4:01, two of them on offensive fouls by Curry. He sat just 104 seconds after tipoff.
The Bulls led by as many as 12 in the first quarter, after which the Knicks had scored a Bulls’ opponent-season low 10 points. That output matched their turnover total.
By halftime, the Bulls led by 18 and the Knicks had tied an opponent season-low with just 27 points.
Meanwhile, Gordon was dishing as well as he was driving. His blind, between-the-legs pass to a trailing Luol Deng for a fast-break layup made you forget his season-long turnover troubles–for a second.
By the time Hinrich drained two three-pointers within nine seconds during the third quarter, thanks to yet another Knicks turnover, the lead had grown to 61-31.
The only suspense that remained was whether the crowd would stay interested long enough to keep booing Curry in the fourth quarter.
It didn’t, but that’s because Curry didn’t play.
With one home game remaining, the Bulls are 30-10 at the United Center.
That’s a far cry from the 37-4 home record posted during the last season of the dynasty in 1997-98 but an improvement over the 27-14 home mark Curry’s 2004-05 Bulls enjoyed.
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kcjohnson@tribune.com
