Drummond leads way, Pistons beat Bulls 147-144 in 4 OT

Nick Friedell is the Chicago Bulls beat reporter for ESPN Chicago.

Andre Drummond’s 33 points and 21 rebounds before fouling out led the Pistons, who also got 31 points and 13 assists from Reggie Jackson.

“Oh man”, Bulls forward Taj Gibson said. The Knicks, meanwhile, blew out the Sixers Friday night, and no player logged more than 28 minutes. Anthony then rattled home a three with 20 seconds left to put the Knicks up 7 after one.

Gasol’s recovery of a Rose loose ball after Rose lost it mid-air resulted in him getting fouled by Ersan Ilyasova with 32 seconds left and hitting two free throws to give the Bulls a 105-103 lead in regulation before the Pistons recovered themselves to send it to overtime.

Like I said, there’s probably a million other statistical and historical anomalies to search and uncover.

On the other side of the wall, the Pistons were just as exhausted.

For the record, Jackson confirmed afterward that the always-vocal Van Gundy did not lose his voice through 68 minutes.

“Maybe for you guys”, Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said.

“It’s on everybody. But I just think when it’s coming from [Hoiberg] it’s a lot different”. “It was an epic game”. I’ve never been in one. Still, the Bulls are not a team to be taken lightly. “We don’t want that pattern and I think that starts with winning games here at Madison Square Garden on a regular basis”. “It’s excruciating if you’re on their end of it, and it’s excruciating while you’re going through it”. Derrick [Rose] played well.

Finally, another important strength of the Bulls is the combination of Jimmy Butler and Pau Gasol. “We’ve got to get that together”. The Bulls downed the Trail Blazers 156-155 on March 16, 1984.

“It’s not even about being coached a certain way for five years, ” Butler continued, when the name of former coach Tom Thibodeau was brought up.

The Bulls have played 11 games decided by five or fewer points so far in 2015-16 (8-3); that is tied with Minnesota and Toronto for the most such contests this season. Rose, who attempted only three shots while playing through an illness against Philadelphia on Monday, looked as healthy as he has all season on several explosive drives to the basket in the first quarter of Wednesday’s win. It was the Bulls second four overtime game in franchise history. “I think we had some mental lapses on offense and on defense, but I think we played well”. “I thought we came out of the locker room in the second half, third quarter, juices flowing a little bit”.

KNICKS 107, 76ERS 97: Arron Afflalo had 22 points and seven rebounds, Derrick Williams scored 17 off the bench and NY won its third win in a row.

But the beauty of the National Basketball Association sometimes is in its unwavering consistency: There’s always another game to play, another flight to catch.

Jimmy Butler has been no stranger to speaking his mind since being rewarded with a new five-year, $95-million contract, and that has included calling out his teammates when needed.

“It’s hard”, Gasol said. You try to fight through it and be effective. “Four overtimes, no overtimes”. While Rose has not played terribly, he has struggled to shoot efficiently from the floor and he has simply not been able to lead with Butler in the way that I envisioned earlier in the season.