Jim Prisching/Associated Press
The Knicks' Iman Shumpert trying to stop the Bulls' Nate Robinson.
CHICAGO — If you laid the Knicks' top six big men from end to end, you would get 41 feet and 4 inches of pain, and enough sore necks, feet, knees and ankles to fill a modest orthopedic ward.
The Knicks stepped onto the United Center court Thursday night without any of them, having arrived without the services of Amar'e Stoudemire's right knee, Kenyon Martin's left ankle, Tyson Chandler's neck, Kurt Thomas' right foot and the two left feet belonging to Marcus Camby and Rasheed Wallace.
They put nine players in uniform, started the 6-foot 8-inch Chris Copeland at center and put their 13-game winning streak on the line against the feisty, physical Chicago Bulls.
After all the fretting over injured giants, the game was decided by the smallest player on the court.
Nate Robinson, the Chicago Bulls' sprightly 5-foot, 9-inch guard, exploded for 35 points, including 8 in overtime, sending the Knicks to a 118-111 defeat, their first loss since March 17.
The third longest winning streak in Knicks history is over. The Bulls — who two weeks ago snuffed out the Miami Heat's 27-game streak — reign as the N.B.A.'s premier streak stoppers. They also swept the season series with the Knicks.
"They can have it," Carmelo Anthony said, a bit of contempt in his voice. "They can have it. They can have these regular season wins. They did a great job at beating us four times. We're not worrying about them at this point. We're concerned about ourselves."
For the first time in 26 days, the Knicks have something to be concerned about. They blew a 15-point lead in the second half and never found a way to contain Robinson, who went 10 for 18 from the field and 10 for 10 from the foul line, eluding Raymond Felton, Iman Shumpert and everyone else in a Knicks jersey.
"He's a handful," Coach Mike Woodson said.
Anthony led the Knicks with 36 points, his sixth straight game with at least 35, breaking Bernard King's franchise record. He also grabbed 19 rebounds, helping offset the absences of, well, everybody.
But Anthony missed the biggest shot of the night, an open 19-footer at the regulation buzzer. When overtime arrived, the Knicks had nothing left. They made just 3 of 11 shots and were outscored by Robinson alone.
J. R. Smith scored 28 points but went 1 for 6 in overtime.
There was one more injury scare along the way. Raymond Felton sprained his right knee while chasing after the jump ball in overtime and crumpled to the court, wincing.
"I mean, the first thing you're thinking is, Is he going to get up and continue?" said Woodson, who rushed onto the court to check on Felton.
Felton did get up and finished the game. Despite an obvious limp, he said he would play Friday night in Cleveland.
The Knicks (51-27) still lead the Indiana Pacers (49-29) by two games in the race for the second seed in the East, with four games to play. The Pacers visit Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Chicago (43-35) moved a half-game ahead of the Atlanta Hawks for the fifth seed.
The Bulls are the only team in the East to go undefeated against the Knicks this season — a fact the Knicks dismissed as trivial.
"We played them four times. We came up short four times," Jason Kidd said. "There's a bigger picture right now."
Not as easily dismissed was that the Bulls again flustered the Knicks into technical fouls and tough shots. The Knicks converted just 40.4 percent of their field goals, with Anthony going 13 for 35 and Smith going 11 for 27.
The Bulls surged ahead by 7 points in the fourth quarter, with Robinson providing a nifty reverse layup and two 3-pointers, celebrating the second one by co-opting Steve Novak's "discount double-check" belt gesture.
The Knicks rallied in the final 3 minutes of regulation, and Anthony tied the game at 105-105 with 14.5 seconds left.
The Knicks' revival has been built on brilliant shooting, so it is only appropriate that this season will be immortalized with the N.B.A. record for 3-pointers. The Knicks hit 10 more Thursday night, pushing their season total to 847, breaking the mark set by the 2009-10 Orlando Magic, who had 841.
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