By RACHEL COHEN
AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- Derrick Rose and Carmelo Anthony are both
All-Star starters. Only Rose is the reigning MVP, and he was the
one who owned Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.



Rose had 32 points, 13 assists and a basket seemingly every time
the Knicks were poised to rally in the Bulls' 105-102 victory.



"Every time I step on the court, they're coming at me," Rose
said. "I love it where it's a challenge like that. I'm not
backing away from it, and I don't want them to back away from
it. It's just `be on' every night."



This night brought relief for a Chicago team in the middle of a
nine-game road trip and more distress for New York and its
embattled coach, who opened a back-to-back-to-back with their
10th loss in 12 games.



"For the most part, we played extremely hard tonight," Anthony
said. "We've got to pat ourselves on the back for something. We
can go and magnify the turnovers late in the second quarter; we
still had a chance to win the basketball game."



Rose had 15 of his points in the fourth quarter, scoring on
three straight possessions during one spectacular 79-second
burst. He split Anthony and Amare Stoudemire to flip in a shot
from past the backboard, then hit a 3-pointer to put the Bulls
up 95-88 with less than 6 minutes left.



Stoudemire had a season-high 34 points and 11 rebounds but
missed a shot from beyond his normal range - a 3-point attempt
with 11.9 seconds remaining - that would have tied the score.



"He can make that shot as well as anybody," coach Mike D'Antoni
said.



Said Stoudemire: "That shot normally falls for me."



Anthony had 26 points but just 4 in the fourth quarter and
missed a desperation 3 at the buzzer that would have sent the
game to overtime. Twice in the last 92 seconds with the Knicks
trailing by 3, he had his shot blocked.



New York still had its chances. Landry Fields' baseline drive
with 23.4 seconds left pulled the Knicks within 1. New York had
no choice but to foul Kyle Korver, a 74 percent free-throw
shooter, with 13.7 seconds to go. He hit both.



After Stoudemire missed, a miscommunication by the Bulls kept
things interesting. With Chicago leading 104-100, the Bulls
fouled Anthony on purpose - but they were supposed to do so only
with a 3-point lead.



Anthony made both, and Rose failed to clinch the victory when he
missed one of his free throws with 5.3 seconds remaining -
something he seemed more focused on afterward than his 32
points. Anthony couldn't make him pay when his 33-footer bounced
off the rim.



"We always say you got to find a way, and the good teams in this
league find different ways to win games," Bulls coach Tom
Thibodeau said of his Eastern Conference leaders. "Ideally,
you'd like to count on both your offense and your defense."



Allowing New York to shoot 49 percent is not his idea of
defense, but Chicago more than made up for it by making nearly
53 percent of its field goals and 6 of 13 3-point attempts.



With the Knicks trailing by 11 at halftime, Anthony scored 12 in
the third. His driving bank shot with 44.1 seconds left in the
period tied the score for the first time since early in the
second quarter.



But on the Bulls' next possession, Jared Jeffries was called for
a foul on Ronnie Brewer. When Tyson Chandler barked to the refs,
he received a technical. Korver hit that free throw, and New
York never tied it again.



The Knicks had to dig out of a hole after committing five
turnovers in the last 3 1/2 minutes of the first half, including
one immediately after a timeout with 1:36 left. Joakim Noah had
two dunks and Brewer added a third as the Bulls pulled ahead
55-42 with 25.8 seconds remaining.



With boos pouring down from the stands, Anthony missed a jumper,
then missed a layup after an offensive rebound. His third try
with less than a second to go finally went in.



NOTES: Rose scored at least 30 points for the fourth time in
five games. ... The Bulls' nine-game road trip is the club's
longest since the 1992-93 season. They improved to 2-2 after
losing at Philadelphia 98-82 a night earlier. ... The Knicks got
just 6 points off the bench, all by Toney Douglas. ... New York
is playing three games in three days for the first time since
1999. New York must travel to Boston to play Friday night before
returning home to face the Nets on Saturday. ... Knicks rookie
Iman Shumpert had a career-high eight assists.



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Follow Rachel Cohen at https://twitter.com/RachelCohenAP.