Chicago Bulls drop 128-117 loss to New York Knicks

At times, the Chicago Bulls still play like a team getting to know one another.

For a flash in the second quarter of Tuesday’s 128-117 loss to the New York Knicks, it seemed as if they didn’t know each other at all.

Andre Drummond poked the ball free on the perimeter. Torrey Craig snatched up the loose ball and took off toward the Bulls’ hoop. Without a single Knicks defender in the area, Craig tossed the ball upward, letting it kiss off the backboard as he bounded toward the rim.

And — inexplicably, infuriatingly — Drummond followed.

The pair collided at the rim, the ball bouncing everywhere except into the net as Drummond and Craig crashed into each other and then to the ground. That snapshot of both players with their hand on the ball, eyes wide with focus, captured the truth of this season the Bulls — always close to moments of joy, always stumbling just a second too soon.

The flubbed dunk was the embarrassing lowlight of a dismal loss for the Bulls. But what came on the ensuing play was far more disastrous — Drummond hustled back on defense, attempted to rebound an awry shot and in the process landed on an opponent’s foot.

Drummond immediately hopped to the sideline and flopped onto his stomach in evident pain, rolling over to hold his left ankle. He was removed from the court in a wheelchair and ruled out of the rest of the game. The severity of the injury is unclear. But with three games remaining in the regular season — and just a week left until the play-in tournament begins — the Bulls can’t afford to lose their backup big man.