The Knicks played seven of their first 10 games outside Manhattan, but Wednesday night represented the start of a four-game homestand against sub-.500 teams that would evenly distribute their schedule to open the season.
The Knicks erased a 22-point deficit late in the third quarter to take a lead into the frantic closing seconds, only to lose in heartbreaking fashion and fall to 5-6 with a 124-123 home loss to the Bulls to conclude their first back-to-back of the season.
Coby White was fouled by Josh Hart while attempting a potential go-ahead 3-pointer with 3.0 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and sank all three free throws for a one-point Chicago lead.
Jalen Brunson’s turnaround jumper then rimmed out as time expired, as the Knicks failed to build on Tuesday’s win in Philadelphia.
Brunson remained in the lineup after being listed as questionable with a sprained right ankle, and he finished with 24 points and eight assists in 34 minutes, including the go-ahead driving layup off the glass with 4.6 seconds remaining.
Karl-Anthony Towns also continued his stellar offensive play with a season-high 46 points and 10 rebounds, while Mikal Bridges added 20 points for the Knicks, who will play consecutive home games against the Nets on Friday and Sunday.
Zach LaVine led the Bulls (5-7) with 31, while White finished with 22 and Nikola Vucevic added 19 points and 11 boards.
Even if the Knicks have sacrificed some of their interior defense with the free-agent departure of Isaiah Hartenstein and the injury absence of Mitchell Robinson, Towns gives them an offensive threat that can score in the paint and from the outside.
He has connected on 50.9 percent of his 3-point shots with 2.5 makes per game from beyond the arc.
Like Towns, OG Anunoby also had enjoyed a fast start from long range, shooting 41.5 percent through 10 games. But he started Wednesday’s game 1-for-9 from the floor in the first half, including five of six misses from long range.
The Knicks knocked down only eight of 23 on 3-point attempts, while the Bulls were more efficient from downtown (8-for-18) to take a 59-47 lead into intermission.
LaVine buried four treys and scored 19 in the half, with Brunson (18) and Towns (15) doing most of the damage for the Knicks.
A 14-5 run — including seven points by Vucevic — extended the Knicks’ deficit to 21 barely two minutes into the third.
The Knicks trailed 90-68 with less than four minutes remaining in the quarter, but long-range buckets by Bridges, Towns and Cam Payne — and a driving dunk by Towns — sparked a 17-0 surge to pull them within five at 90-85 entering the final period.
Payne stripped White and buried another 3 at the other end to close the gap to one early in the fourth, before Hart went coast-to-coast for a 97-96 turnaround lead with 9:06 to go.
Towns buried his fifth triple and Payne got to the rack for a layup and a 107-106 advantage before the midpoint of the quarter, but Towns missed both free throws after crashing hard into the backboard stanchion with the Knicks down one with 5:58 remaining.
Towns also traveled on the Knicks’ next possession, and the Bulls pushed the cushion back to five on LaVine’s jumper with under 5:00 to play.
White drilled a 3-pointer for a four-point game with 2:15 remaining, but consecutive hoops by Anunoby and Towns and a step-back jumper by Brunson put the Knicks up 121-119 with 37.1 ticks on the clock.