Tuesday night’s first timeout brought a video tribute to Michael Jordan for his Hall of Fame selection the previous day.
The second stoppage featured a similar salute to Jerry Sloan, who played and coached for the Bulls but will be going to Springfield, Mass., for his coaching work with the Utah Jazz.
The Bulls’ 110-103 victory over the Knicks never will be confused with any Hall of Fame material — or possibly even an instructional basketball video.
At this point, however, survival counts more than style points.
With their 12th victory in 13 home games, the Bulls moved a half-game ahead of Detroit for the Eastern Conference’s seventh seed and dropped their magic number to clinch a playoff berth to two.
That means if they don’t clinch sooner, a victory over Charlotte in Saturday’s home game brings the Bulls their fourth playoff berth in five seasons.
“For me it would be great, but I’d be happier for the players,” coach Vinny Del Negro said. “I’ve had a chance to play in playoff games and understand what it’s like. Some of these guys have, but some haven’t. That experience is invaluable. And the level of play and focus that you need to come with will only benefit us moving forward.”
Despite allowing 50.6 percent shooting, the Bulls, in a refreshing change, fueled the game-changing run with defense. Trailing 90-85, they ripped off a 17-3 spurt that featured two steals from Kirk Hinrich, one from John Salmons, one from Derrick Rose and an emphatic swat of a Jared Jeffries shot from Tyrus Thomas.
Rose scored six and Hinrich added four in the run, Salmons hit a corner three-pointer and Thomas jammed down an alley-oop from Rose that jazzed the crowd of 20,764.
The Knicks didn’t go away. Wilson Chandler hit a three and Chris Duhon sank a driving layup with 87 seconds left to make it 102-100.
Brad Miller, who had 12 rebounds but shot 1-for-10, rebounded a Ben Gordon miss and made two free throws with 67 seconds left.
After the teams traded misses, Chandler hit another three with 22.1 seconds left. Gordon made two free throws with 21.4 seconds remaining. Thomas then blocked Quentin Richardson’s three-pointer and was fouled, icing the game with two free throws with 14.3 seconds left.
Hinrich’s 25 points led the Bulls. Rose added 18 points and six assists.
Chandler scored 26 and Al Harrington 23 for the Knicks.
The Bulls again played short-handed because Tim Thomas left the state to attend to personal matters and could miss more than Tuesday’s game.
Early in the third, Rose fell while scoring on a three-point play and clutched his sore right wrist, grimacing. He shook off the pain, but Harrington inflicted more, dropping 18 points on the Bulls in the quarter as the Knicks led 84-81 entering the fourth.
“We have so much work to do,” Del Negro said. “We’re not in the playoffs. We have to go and work for it.”
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Big number
5: Players on the Knicks’ roster with Chicago or Bulls ties. Larry Hughes, Chris Duhon and Eddy Curry all played for the Bulls, while Wilson Chandler and Quentin Richardson played at DePaul.
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kcjohnson@tribune.com
