RJ Barrett scored 28 points, Alec Burks had 27 and the New York Knicks beat the Chicago Bulls 109-104 on Monday night for their fourth straight victory.
Obi Toppin had 17 points for the Knicks, who remained 4 1/2 games behind Atlanta for 10th place in the Eastern Conference and the final play-in spot with only six games remaining. But they'd rather keep trying for that, as unlikely as it is, than lose a few more games to potentially better their draft position.
DeMar DeRozan scored 37 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter. But he missed a jumper and then was called for an offensive foul in the final 45 seconds, cutting short Chicago's comeback attempt.
Zach LaVine added 27 points but Chicago fell into a tie with Toronto for the fifth-best record in the East.
Toppin played most of the fourth quarter in place of struggling Julius Randle and had eight points in the period. His dunk while being fouled led to a three-point play and an 89-79 advantage early in the period but DeRozan, who has 573 points in the fourth quarter this season, kept Chicago from ever falling too far behind.
His three-point play cut it to 104-103 with 1:17 left, but after his missed jumper Burks knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner to make it 107-103 with 22 seconds to go. Randle then hit two free throws after DeRozan's offensive foul to put it away.
Mitchell Robinson finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Knicks. Randle was 1 of 9 for five points, though he did grab 13 rebounds.
Nikola Vucevic had 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Former Bulls Coach, now Knicks Coach Tom Thibodeau still isn't sure if Derrick Rose will return this season. He said the point guard has increased his workload to include basketball activity but still not contact as he recovers from a procedure for a skin infection on his surgically repaired right ankle.
Rookie guard Quentin Grimes missed his second straight game with soreness in his right knee after recently returning from an injury to the knee. Thibodeau said Grimes was day to day.
The Bulls visit Washington on Tuesday.
