Bulls End Tough Road Trip With Win

Link: A 23-point lead wasn’t enough for Chicago coach Scott Skiles - and it almost wasn’t for the Bulls, either.

Skiles was ejected in the opening minute of the third quarter Saturday night, but the Bulls held on to beat the New York Knicks 106-95 to stop a six-game losing streak.

“I didn’t anticipate getting tossed out of the game or anything,” Skiles said. “I’m never afraid to get tossed out because I know Jimmy (Boylan, assistant coach) will do a good job. “It got a little hairy there at the end, but we made enough plays to win.”

Steve Francis, back in the starting lineup for the Knicks, was also ejected with 41 seconds remaining in a game that included the benchings of Stephon Marbury and Ben Wallace.

Luol Deng led the Bulls with 24 points, including 16 on 7-of-12 shooting in the first half to give the Bulls a 56-34 lead.

Chicago opened the second half with a jumper by reserve Malik Allen, who scored 15 points. Shortly after that, Skiles was ejected after picking up a pair of technical fouls for arguing - with the Bulls leading 58-35.

“The ejection, I deserved. I deserved the second technical,” Skiles said. “I didn’t care for the first one that much. He was joking with me, I joked with him and he gave me a technical. Technically, you’re not allowed to comment.”

Wallace was benched in the beginning of the third quarter for breaking a long-standing team rule on the ban of headbands, which for Wallace has been part of his NBA look along with his down-low inside presence on the court. He wore the headband in the first quarter.

Skiles was not too concerned if his benching of Wallace would cause conflict in the locker room.

“That’s kind of an inside team matter,” Skiles said. “The guys may comment, they may not on it. I don’t know, but I am not going to. I am not concerned about. I don’t know why.”

Wallace didn’t talk much about the headband issue and not starting in the second half.

“We got a win. That’s all I know,” he said. “I don’t know. Coach makes decisions. I just play.”

Kirk Hinrich added 21 points and Andres Nocioni had 19 for the Bulls, who snapped an eight-game road skid.

“I feel like it’s nothing at all. We’re just going to figure it out and move forward,” Hinrich said. “Ben wants to win I think more, just as much as anybody on the team. He’s got a great track record. He’s probably won a lot of games in this league and he’s got a championship.”

Reserve Jamal Crawford led New York with 26 points and Eddy Curry added 20.

Marbury, who’s said throughout the season that he would be much more aggressive, did not attempt a shot and was scoreless after he had only two points in Friday’s victory at Boston.