For the third straight game poor free throw shooting cost the Bulls dearly, hitting only 9-of-17 free throws in the fourth quarter of their 78-71 loss in New York.  The Bulls had trailed by only three points with 18 seconds remaining, finishing the game shooting 64.9 percent overall from the charity stripe the culprit.  The story was the same at Golden State and at Milwaukee in the two prior games, both winnable but the basic skill of free throw shooting lacking.

The positive from the game was the stellar play of the younger players, especially rookie Trenton Hassell who held Latrell Sprewell to only five points.  Eddy Curry was instrumental in the Bulls comeback from 17 down at half time, scoring 5 points in 6 minutes, while veterans Greg Anthony and Charles Oakley - to their disappointment - combined for only two minutes in the fourth quarter.  Floyd said he went away from the veterans to inject some more offense late in the game, while Anthony and Oakley were both preaching defense.  "Sometimes defending and rebounding is as important as offense," Anthony said. "It's frustrating because we were down six going into the fourth and I felt we could still win the game.''