NEW YORK — Derrick Rose scored 27 points, Luol Deng added 23, and the Chicago Bulls beat the New York Knicks 115-109 on Wednesday night to complete a sweep of a home-and-home series.
With trade rumors swirling around both teams, the Bulls rallied from a 15-point deficit to move above .500 at 27-26 and hand the Knicks their fifth straight loss.
Brad Miller had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Taj Gibson finished with 14 points and a career-high 16 rebounds as Chicago outrebounded New York 52-40.
Al Harrington scored 27 points and Wilson Chandler had 26 for the Knicks. David Lee had 23 points and 12 rebounds, while Danilo Gallinari scored 19 points but was just 2-of-10 from 3-point range, including a pair of costly misses with a chance to tie in the final minute.
Chicago outscored New York 62-45 in the second half to win a game that was much closer than its 118-85 rout at United Center on Tuesday night.
The Knicks played without Nate Robinson, who they said was home with flulike symptoms. However, various reports earlier Wednesday said the team was nearing a deal to send the backup guard to Boston, and an official within the league said the trade would be completed Thursday.
Starting forward Jared Jeffries also played only 6 minutes before he left with what the Knicks said was a sore right knee.
New York did complete one deal, sending the unhappy Darko Milicic to Minnesota for Brian Cardinal. The deal would open a roster spot for the Knicks to make another trade Thursday if they waive Cardinal, as expected.
Chicago was without John Salmons. Coach Vinny Del Negro said he got a call before the game telling him to leave the guard at the team hotel, an indication a trade was in the works.
New York led by two after three quarters, but Jannero Pargo opened the fourth with a 3-pointer that gave Chicago the lead for good and kicked off a 9-0 run that made it 91-84 on a follow dunk by Tyrus Thomas with 9:12 remaining.
The Knicks cut it to three on Lee's jumper with 49 seconds to play and had chances to tie on their next possession, but Gallinari missed a pair of 3-pointers. New York got the rebound again after a scramble but Rose stole a pass. Miller was fouled and made a free throw to make it 113-109 with 6.4 seconds left.
The first quarter was more competitive than Tuesday's game was. There were 12 lead changes in the period, with Toney Douglas tossing in an off-balance 3-pointer as time expired to give New York a 27-25 lead.
Douglas made another 3-pointer to extend the lead to 11 with 8:46 left in the second, and the lead grew to 15 late in the half before the Knicks took a 64-53 lead into the break.
The Bulls turned it around in the third quarter behind 13 points from Miller and a surge from Rose. He scored six during a 12-2 spurt that trimmed a 12-point deficit to 80-78 on Kirk Hinrich's layup, and the Knicks' lead was only 84-82 after three.
Notes
Kentucky coach John Calipari, who coached Rose's Memphis team that reached the national championship game, was at the game. … Chicago won three of four meetings and hasn't lost the season series against the Knicks since 2000-01.