NBA Game of the Day: Knicks at Bulls, Oct. 28

Taking a look at Thursday night’s eastern conference matchup between the Bulls and Knicks.

New York basketball is officially back. On the heels of their first playoff appearance since 2013, the New York Knicks have started the season 3-1 and seem to be legitimate contenders, once again. On Thursday night, they’ll have a chance to further build the hype surrounding them when they travel to the midwest and look to knock off the Chicago Bulls from the ranks of the NBA’s unbeaten.

One of only three remaining undefeated NBA teams, Chicago improved its record to 4-0 on the season when it defeated the Toronto Raptors, 111-108, Monday night. The win marked the first time that Zach LaVine had ever won four games in a row as an NBA player, and gave the Bulls their first 4-0 start since the Michael Jordan era.

Speaking of MJ, he is at the forefront of some of the most memorable moments in this matchup and has sent the Knicks to Cancun (figuratively speaking) on more than a few occasions, while also bullying the Knicks during the regular season.

Although, the Knicks have some moments too. The rivalry was nearly dead during the latter part of Carmelo Anthony’s years as a Knick when both teams were down, but the beginning years of Melo’s tenure were fun. The 2011-2012 season was particularly memorable. Melo’s late-game heroics during his 43-point performance in New York’s 100-99 OT win over the Bulls takes the cake for the best moment in recent memory, but Derrick Rose’s brilliance in a few of those 2012 matchups was just as entertaining. Unfortunately, no playoff matchup ever came to fruition between the two teams during the early 2010s as both had to deal with injuries and the emergence of the Miami Heat’s Big 3, but there were plenty of notable regular-season games that came to mind.