CHICAGO — This was not the kind of sluggish performance the Knicks needed on their way to the Brew City showdown.
As decrepit on the offensive end as they have been all season, the Knicks suffered an ugly 98-86 loss to the Bulls Wednesday night at United Center to fall back to eighth place. It sets the stage for the Knicks to tumble out of playoff position by late tonight if they lose to the Bucks.
The Knicks fled Chicago by bus late last night for the 90-minute journey, hoping to rediscover an offensive flow.
PHOTOS: KNICKS FLOP IN CHICAGO
“It’s a must-win for us,” Tyson Chandler said. “We have to approach it as if it’s a Game 7 playoff game. We have to understand what’s at stake. We have to leave it out on the floor.”
Reuters
NO HEROICS THIS TIME: Carmelo Anthony, who scored 29 points, lunges for a loose ball as Omer Asik defends during the Knicks’ 98-86 loss to the Bulls last night.
The Bulls were without Derrick Rose, who suffered a sprained ankle in Sunday’s 100-99 loss at the Garden, and the Knicks were without capable point-guard play. The Knicks didn’t take advantage of Rose’s absence as Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau’s top seed put the clamps on the Knicks, who shot 42.5 percent.
Chicago also massacred the Knicks 51-33 on the boards and allowed 25 second-chance points. Chandler had 15 rebounds but no other Knick had more than five, and Carmelo Anthony, who scored 29 points, had just two.
“We got outhustled, that’s the thing they do — hustle,” said Anthony, who also said Wednesday night’s game is a “must-win’’. “We lost the game on rebounds, second-chance points, loose balls. Two rebounds — I have to do better than that.”
The Knicks (29-28), who fell from seventh to eighth with the Sixers’ victory over the Nets, face the Bucks at the Bradley Center and a loss would toss them into ninth place with eight games remaining because the Bucks would own the tiebreaker.
If the season ended today, the Knicks would face the Bulls in Round 1. Chicago won the season series, 3-1.
“It was one of those games offensively, we just didn’t have it,” said interim coach Mike Woodson, who fell to 11-4. “We didn’t have ball movement, it didn’t flow. It’s the first time I’ve seen that as head coach. It seemed everyone was trying to do it by themselves.”
The Knicks are 2-10 in the last 12 meetings against Milwaukee, which scored 119 points against them in the last meeting at Bradley Center.
“It’s a big game [Wednesday night], and we have to put this one behind us,” Woodson said. “We played them well last time, but it’s not going to be an easy game.”
The Knicks’ bench play was pitiful and only Anthony showed any sharpness on offense, shooting 11-for-19 from the field to follow up on his Easter Miracle 43-point effort.
Reserve J.R. Smith was the next leading scorer with 14 points but wasn’t selective enough. Steve Novak’s two free throws late represented the only other bench points. Novak finished 0-for-4 and was 0-for-8 in the home-and-home series. Seven of those attempts were from the 3-point line. Novak, the league’s leader in 3-point percentage, better get hot in his hometown tonight or this club may not have enough offense or point-guard play to compete against Brandon Jennings and the Bucks.
The Knicks’ offense went from streaky in the first quarter to completely dead the rest of the way. Their 10-point second quarter cost them the game. The continued injury absences of point guard Jeremy Lin and Amar’e Stoudemire was deeply felt.
“I thought we were a little flat,” Chandler said. “If we’re going to be undersized, we have to do the little things and box out.”
The Bulls got a bench boost from shooter Kyle Korver, who buried the Knicks in the fourth quarter with 11 of his 14 points. Korver dove on the floor for a loose ball in the fourth, ripping it from Baron Davis, and fed Taj Gibson for a dunk.
The Bulls are now 16-7 without Rose.
“We feel great about our depth,’’ Thibodeau said before the game. “We feel we have enough guys to play with.’’
Unfortunately for the Knicks, they did.
marc.berman@nypost.com
Knicks, Knicks, Carmelo Anthony, The Knicks, the Bulls, The Bulls, Bulls
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