As happy as Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni is with Chris Duhon, he joked about how he cursed a couple of times when the Bulls cashed in a 1.7 percent chance to win the draft lottery last May, mere days after he rejected the Bulls’ job.
“Chicago is going to watch a really good point guard for a lot of years,” a smiling D’Antoni said of Derrick Rose. “If he can stay away from the apple cutters.”
Actually, a knife Rose used to cut an apple inflicted the damage that led to a 10-stitch wound on his left forearm early Monday.
But Rose shook off the pain and he and his teammates then inflicted some on the Knicks (9-12) with a 105-100 victory Tuesday night at the United Center.
The Bulls, who earlier led by as many as 11 points, trailed 97-94 when Ben Gordon’s three-pointer tied the game with 2 minutes 52 seconds remaining.
The teams traded several misses before Larry Hughes, solid off the bench again with 16 points and eight rebounds, swished a three-pointer from directly in front of the Knicks’ bench with 55.3 seconds left.
Duhon, who narrowly missed a triple-double, missed on a driving left-handed layup attempt. When the Knicks couldn’t corral a rebound off a Luol Deng miss, Drew Gooden broke free along the baseline and was fouled, converting both free throws with 16.2 seconds to play.
Following a Quentin Richardson three-pointer that rimmed in and out, Gordon split two free throws. Richardson then made a three-pointer to make it 103-100, and Deng iced matters with two free throws with 2.6 seconds left.
Gooden’s 22 points and 16 rebounds led the Bulls (10-11), who also received 15 points and seven assists from Rose, who wore a protective sleeve on his injury.
Al Harrington’s 28 points led the Knicks.
Duhon, who finished with 15 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds, returned to the United Center for the first time since signing a two-year, $11.6 million free-agent contract with New York. The former second-round pick played an integral role on three Bulls playoff teams, and his biggest fan could be D’Antoni.
“I was out running crazy for him,” D’Antoni said of the Knicks’ free-agent pursuit. “I’ve always liked him. I liked him in Phoenix.
“All the intangibles you knew were there — his leadership in the locker room, the way he approaches practice, things you don’t see. And on the floor, he’s putting up good stats. I think he’s in a system where he will keep getting better. He has had great games and I look forward to keeping him for a long time.”
Short time is the only way to describe the current playing status of Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah. Del Negro continued to use a lack of time in punitive fashion for their inconsistency.
One game after Thomas played only five minutes and Noah didn’t leave the bench, Thomas sat the entire game for the first time this season. Noah played 19 minutes with four blocks.
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kcjohnson@tribune.com
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