Birch Shines in Debut as Knicks Defeat Bulls 126-118
Chicago, IL -- If Jelani Birch's first game was any indication of his NBA career, then his legacy is well on its way to all-time-great status. If not, then, at the very least, Birch put on an NBA debut performance that will go down as one of the best ever.
Birch fell just two assists shy from a triple-double as he posted 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists on 9/19 shooting as the Knicks defeated the Chicago Bulls 124-118. Birch recorded five of his eight assists in the fourth quarter as he set the table for his frontcourt of Kristaps Porzingis (25 points) and Mitchell Robinson (19 points) to help the Knicks pull away.
"Those two dudes made my life a lot easier tonight. Mitch and Kristaps finish so well, all I had to do was hit them near the basket and they did the rest," Birch said after the game.
In total, six Knicks scored in double figures led by Porzingis who scored 25 points on 10/15 shooting. Mitchell Robinson recorded a 19-point, 13-rebound double-double, and Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 14 points to go along with 6 assists.
| New York Knicks (1-0) at Chicago Bulls (0-1) |
| Oct 23, 2019 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | | New York | 31 | 33 | 26 | 36 | 126 | | Chicago | 29 | 30 | 31 | 28 | 118 |
| Top Performers | | New York Knicks | | Jelani Birch - 24 pts, 10 reb, 8 ast, 1 stl | | Kristaps Porzingis - 25 pts, 9 reb, 3 blk, 2 ast | | Chicago Bulls | | Tyreke Evans - 24 pts, 6 reb, 6 ast | | Kris Dunn - 20 pts, 4 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl |
| | Team Stats Comparison | | NYK | CHI | | FG Made-Att | 42/84 | 43/88 | | 3PT Made-Att | 12/30 | 15/33 | | FT Made-Att | 30/44 | 17/18 | | Rebounds | 46 | 46 | | Assists | 21 | 28 | | Turnovers | 8 | 15 | | Steals | 9 | 5 | | Blocks | 7 | 4 |
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| New York Knicks | | STARTERS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | | Kristaps Porzingis | 35 | 10/15 | 2/5 | 3/5 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 25 | | Kevin Knox | 32 | 4/8 | 2/4 | 2/4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 12 | | Jelani Birch | 31 | 9/19 | 1/3 | 5/6 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 24 | | Mitchell Robinson | 29 | 6/9 | 0/0 | 7/11 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19 | | Tim Hardaway Jr. | 28 | 4/7 | 4/6 | 2/6 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14 | | BENCH | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | | George Hill | 18 | 2/5 | 0/3 | 2/2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | | Mike Scott | 16 | 2/4 | 0/1 | 3/4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | | Mario Hezonja | 16 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 2/2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | | Justin Holiday | 16 | 3/12 | 3/7 | 2/2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | | Joakim Noah | 13 | 2/4 | 0/0 | 2/2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
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| Chicago Bulls | | STARTERS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | | Jabari Parker | 35 | 7/12 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 15 | | Lauri Markannen | 32 | 4/10 | 2/5 | 0/0 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | | Wendell Carter Jr. | 30 | 1/4 | 0/1 | 4/5 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | | Kris Dunn | 30 | 7/12 | 2/2 | 4/4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 20 | | Tyreke Evans | 27 | 8/15 | 3/5 | 5/5 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 24 | | BENCH | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | | Zach LaVine | 24 | 5/10 | 2/6 | 1/1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13 | | Bobby Portis | 19 | 2/7 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | | Denzel Valentine | 16 | 1/5 | 1/3 | 3/3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | | Cameron Payne | 15 | 4/7 | 3/5 | 0/0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | | Cristiano Felicio | 12 | 4/6 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
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