Tom Thibodeau just shrugged without offering an audible answer, which probably said plenty about what he thought about the late call that wasted the Knicks’ frenetic comeback from a 22-point deficit and cost them a potential signature win in Wednesday’s heartbreaking loss to the Bulls.
Josh Hart was far more expressive, however, and refused to place any blame on the officials for the foul that was called against him and sent Chicago’s Coby White to the line for three go-ahead free throws in the Knicks’ crushing 124-123 loss at the Garden.
“We lost the game because I fouled at the end. There’s no silver lining. There’s no other excuse,” Hart said after the game. “I made an inexcusable mistake at the end of the game and it cost us the game. And now, there’s nothing we can do about it.
“It was a tough one. It should have been a big statement win for us. It was the first win where we really got hit and really turned to swing back. I got to be better. That one is on my shoulders. I just have to move on from it.”
The Knicks (5-6) played seven of their first 10 games outside Manhattan, but this represented the start of a four-game homestand against sub-.500 teams that would evenly distribute their schedule to open the season.
But at the end of their first back-to-back games of the season, the Knicks failed to build on Tuesday’s win in Philadelphia.
Thibodeau’s team erased a 22-point deficit late in the third quarter to take a lead into the frantic closing seconds, only to lose in heartbreaking fashion.
White was fouled by Hart — though there appeared to be little or no contact — while attempting a potential go-ahead 3-pointer with 3.0 seconds remaining, and he sank all three free throws for a one-point Chicago lead.
Jalen Brunson’s turnaround jumper along the baseline rimmed out as time expired,
“It is what it is,” Brunson said. “They contested it pretty well, but I’ve worked on that shot since high school. The ball was halfway down, but you can’t really say much about it.”
Brunson remained in the lineup after being listed as questionable with a sprained right ankle, and he finished with 24 points and eight assists in 34 minutes, including the go-ahead driving layup off the glass with 4.6 seconds remaining.
Karl-Anthony Towns also continued his stellar offensive play with a season-high 46 points and 10 rebounds, while Mikal Bridges added 20 points for the Knicks, who will play consecutive home games against the Nets on Friday and Sunday.
Zach LaVine led the Bulls (5-7) with 31, while White finished with 22 and Nikola Vucevic added 19 points and 11 boards.
Even if the Knicks have sacrificed some of their interior defense with the free-agent departure of Isaiah Hartenstein and the injury absence of Mitchell Robinson, Towns gives them an offensive threat that can score in the paint and from the outside.
He has connected on 50.9 percent of his 3-point shots with 2.5 makes per game from beyond the arc.
The Knicks knocked down only eight of 23 on 3-point attempts, while the Bulls were more efficient from downtown (8-for-18) to take a 59-47 lead into intermission.
LaVine buried four treys and scored 19 in the half, with Brunson (18) and Towns (15) doing most of the damage for the Knicks.
A 14-5 run — including seven points by Vucevic — extended the Knicks’ deficit to 21 barely two minutes into the third.
The Knicks trailed 90-68 with less than four minutes remaining in the quarter, but long-range buckets by Bridges, Towns and Cam Payne — and a driving dunk by Towns — sparked a 17-0 surge to pull them within five at 90-85 entering the final period.
White drilled a 3-pointer for a 4-point game with 2:15 remaining, but consecutive hoops by OG Anunoby and Towns and a step-back jumper by Brunson put the Knicks up 121-119 with 37.1 ticks on the clock.
But then came a crazy final five seconds — a Brunson layup in traffic, the Hart foul, the White free throws and the Brunson in-and-out miss at the buzzer.
“I thought it was in, and then it wasn’t,” Bridges said. “It hurts, but we have to learn from it.”
