Defending champions New York Knicks host a Chicago Bulls side on a five-game losing run at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, a week after the visitors led by 19 points and still lost 133-127 in the first meeting of the season.

Jalen Brunson scored 38 points to drag the Knicks back that night in Chicago, and the Bulls have not won since, while the Knicks have climbed to 3-4 after losing their opening three games.

It is the second of three meetings on this season's NBA schedule, with a tip-off early on Thursday morning UK time.

Chicago Bulls vs. New York Knicks form and outlook

Chicago's only win of the season came at Milwaukee on 23 October, and the five games since have ended in defeats by four, 35, six, 14 and 19 points.

That run has left the Bulls joint-bottom of the Central Division in the Eastern Conference standings, level with Milwaukee on 1-6, and Wednesday is the third game of a road trip that started in Boston.

There were positives in the first meeting, with Chicago's 32 assists up from 20 in the loss at Boston two days earlier and rookie Caleb Wilson continuing to lead the team in scoring at 20 years old.

New York lost their first three games as champions, to Philadelphia, Boston and Orlando, before beating Detroit and the Bulls on consecutive nights.

Their results since have been uneven, with a 98-93 defeat at Philadelphia on Friday followed by a 103-90 win over Brooklyn on Monday that was settled in the fourth quarter.

Scoring is the Knicks' concern, with 102, 93 and 103 points in three of their last five games, yet Chicago have conceded 124 or more in each of their last five.

The table above shows where the gap sits, since the Knicks lead on defence by a wide margin and edge the Bulls for assists and rebounds and by a fraction in shooting accuracy, with Chicago's only clear advantage coming in raw scoring.

A defensive rating of 121.6 and a net rating of -15.7 before Monday's loss at Philadelphia underline why a Bulls team that scores freely keeps losing.

Bulls vs. Knicks team news and likely rotations

Nic Claxton is the only name on the Bulls' injury report, listed as a game-time decision with a hamstring problem, and the centre is still waiting to make his Bulls debut after arriving from Brooklyn in July.

Chicago's projected starting five is Josh Giddey, Norman Powell, Matas Buzelis, Wilson and Jalen Smith, although Claxton is listed as the starting centre on the depth chart if he is cleared.

The Knicks have no players on the injury report, and their projected starters are Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns, the same five who began the first meeting.

Towns and Landry Shamet both picked up knocks in Chicago, yet Towns recorded 11 points and 16 rebounds against Brooklyn on Monday and Shamet scored a season-high 22 points, while Jordan Clarkson scored 18 off the bench in the first meeting and Tyler Kolek leads the Knicks with 6.3 assists in only 14.3 minutes a game.

The matchups that could decide Bulls vs. Knicks

Brunson against Giddey shaped the first meeting, as Brunson scored 14 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter, including three three-pointers, while Giddey ran Chicago's offence with 11 assists and eight rebounds.

Wilson has scored 20 or more in each of his last three games, and Towns has followed a double-double in Chicago with another against Brooklyn, so the rookie's drives and the centre's rim protection are the contest to watch.

Best player props for Bulls vs. Knicks

Rebounds look the safest category, with Towns leading the Knicks and Wilson among the Bulls' main rebounders, and both prop lines sit below the players' season averages.

Bulls vs. Knicks head-to-head record

New York have won the last four meetings, by 12, six, 40 and six points, since Chicago's 135-125 win on 31 October 2025.

Last season's series finished 3-1 to the Knicks, whose 136-96 win at Madison Square Garden on 3 April was the heaviest of the sequence.

Scoring in those games has swung widely, with totals of 244, 204, 232 and 260 points, so the total here depends more on Chicago's defence than on any trend between the clubs.

Playoff history stretches back to the 1990s, with Chicago winning the 1993 Eastern Conference finals and New York taking a seven-game semi-final the following year.

Bulls vs. Knicks prediction and betting tips

New York have the sturdier defence, the same rest as the Bulls and a home crowd, while Chicago have allowed 124 or more in each of their last five games, so a Knicks side that has struggled to score still looks capable of pulling clear.

Chicago will score, as they did in the first meeting, and that keeps the total live, but the Knicks' defence should still decide the margin.

The counter-case is the Knicks' scoring slump and the 19-point lead Chicago built last time, although that lead came on 43% three-point shooting that is hard to repeat.