Guard J.R. Smith said he felt the effort decline as the Bulls' lead increased. Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
One near record-setting loss into the season and the New York Knicks might already be hitting rough waters.
The Bulls whipped the Knicks 104-80, the second-worst season-opening loss for the franchise.
Guard J.R. Smith said he felt the effort decline as the Bulls’ lead increased.
“When we stopped competing at the end of the third, fourth quarter, we could all tell,” he told the New York Post. “(The Bulls) felt as though they smelled blood in the water. We just couldn’t do anything about it. We put our heads down and tucked our tails, and we can’t do that at home.”
Chicago dominated the second quarter and the second half. New York’s last lead was 20-18 at the end of the first quarter.
“We wanted to make a push in the third quarter, and they got their separation and we never recovered,” Knicks guard Iman Shumpert said. “We can’t die like that. I think our energy died, and we can’t do that.”
Life will not get easier for the Knicks, who are on the road Thursday to play the Cleveland Cavaliiers in the return of LeBron James.
“Right now it’s time to react,” Smith said. “If somebody just kicks your mom’s door and takes what they want, I think you have to react, you can’t sit there thinking what should I do next.”
