NEW YORK _ The Bulls do not believe they have to pick a lane.
Coach Fred Hoiberg wants to rebuild _ and win while they're doing it.
So even though the Bulls entered Monday night's game at Madison Square Garden with an injury-depleted roster and a 2-8 record, Hoiberg said there's no talk within the organization of playing for a higher draft pick.
"No, it hasn't changed anything," he said.
The Bulls ended their four-game losing streak in a game that neither team seemed to want to win. When the players weren't missing shots, they were tossing passes out of bounds or stepping on the end line.
In the end, after two overtimes, the Bulls emerged with a 116-115 victory. For that they can thank Zach LaVine, who scored a career-high 41 points.
In the second overtime, LaVine might have gotten sick of seeing Cameron Payne miss jumpers. He took matters into his own hands, scoring eight points in the final five-minute session.
He hit a contested, driving layup to put the Bulls ahead 115-113 and then stripped Enes Kanter. The Knicks tied it with 2.7 seconds left, but LaVine drove and was fouled by Emmanuel Mudiay with 0.2 seconds to play. LaVine swished the first free throw and missed the second.
LaVine hit the 20-point mark with about seven minutes to play in regulation, extending his streak to 12 games dating to last season. He shot 13-for-25 and earned 14 free throws, making 11.
The Bulls won despite having more turnovers (19) than assists (15).
Wendell Carter Jr. fouled out with 1:28 to play with a double-double of 11 points (3-for-9 shooting) and 13 rebounds. His offensive highlight was a one-handed slam after a screen-and-roll with LaVine.
Carter played at Madison Square Garden for Duke against St. John's, calling it "phenomenal. If not the most historic place in the NBA, it's one of the top ones. It's always exciting playing in front of these great fans."
Injuries to Lauri Markkanen, Bobby Portis, Kris Dunn and Denzel Valentine have whittled away at a promising Bulls roster.
The Knicks are in a similar spot. They're the youngest team in the NBA, and they played Monday without top scorer Tim Hardaway Jr., who took a knee to his back Sunday against the Wizards.
They could have used his scoring, especially during a sloppy overtime period that featured back-to-back airballed 3s by LaVine and New York's Mario Hezonja. Jabari Parker dunked but was ruled to have stepped on the line. LaVine was called for stepping on the sideline. Then Robin Lopez tossed away a pass.
LaVine put on a scoring clinic late in the game, though, hitting three 3-pointers after the Knicks' Trey Burke tied the score at 93. LaVine used a Lopez screen on one and hit two others off the dribble, drawing oohs from the star-studded crowd.
But LaVine closed late on Allonzo Trier, who knocked down a tying 3 with 48 seconds to play.
Trier missed a jumper, sending the game to overtime.
Before the game, Hoiberg pointed to close losses as proof his team is not lost.
"It's a matter of closing those," he said. "We're trying to get one to build confidence. We have a young team trying to learn how to win."
They managed to win Monday, though it wasn't pretty.
