Gordon finds redemption at Garden
RECAP | BOXSCORE
11-11-2005
Ben Gordon hits the game-winning shot over Jamal Crawford
Ben Gordon drained a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Bulls a 90-89 win over the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. In his second game coming off the bench, Gordon was 0-for-12 from the field with the Bulls trailing 89-87 with 1.2 seconds left in the game.
Luol Deng, who led the Bulls for the second straight game with 21 points, inbounded to Gordon, who sank the game-winner over former Bull Jamal Crawford to snap the Bulls' three game losing streak.
"You've got to have a shooter's mentality," said Gordon. "No matter how many you've missed, you've got to believe the next one is going in. Coach Skiles put his trust in me and, fortunately I was able to make the shot."
The Bulls trailed 89-85 with less than a minute to play when Eddy Curry threw down a dunk to cut the Knicks lead to two. On the other end, the Knicks ran down the clock, but Tyson Chandler blocked a last second shot by Kurt Thomas to force a 24 second violation. With 1.2 seconds left, the Bulls called a timeout where Skiles drew up the game-winning play for Gordon.
"Ben has been struggling, but I thought this was a perfect opportunity for him to snap out of it," coach Scott Skiles said. "He could have just as easily missed the shot, but I trust Ben and his teammates trust him, and he came through for us tonight."
Stephon Marbury led the Knicks with 28 points, while Crawford shook off early foul trouble to finish with 20.
Chandler had five points, four rebounds and four assists in the fourth quarter, in addition to the block that set up the game winning shot. Eddy Curry had 16 points and 16 rebounds.
Chris Duhon replaced Joe Johnson in the Bulls' starting lineup, finishing with four points and two assists.