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Bulls prevail in double OT despite Kristaps Porzingis' best efforts

There’s a reason New York Knicks center Kristaps Porzingis is known as “The Unicorn.” People who are that tall shouldn’t be able to move with that much grace and speed.

Apparently, the Chicago Bulls didn’t get that memo, and Porzingis made them pay for it repeatedly during Wednesday’s game.

He kicked things off early in the contest. With about six minutes left in the first quarter, Porzingis caught a pass at the free-throw line with two Bulls on him.

Then, he did this:

There are, at the very least, three different Bulls Porzingis destroys in that highlight. He splits through Lauri Markkanen and Justin Holiday with a smooth spin, and then caps it off with a vicious dunk over Robin Lopez.

We’ll give Denzel Valentine a pass here. He was in the area, but Porzingis clearly wasn’t his man. And we can’t really blame him for watching in awe as Lopez gets dunked on.

Valentine is also the first player on the Bulls to turn around and run back down the court to play offense. After seeing his entire team get dismantled by one player, it’s probably not a surprise he wanted to leave the scene as soon as possible.

Kristaps Porzingis tried to will the Knicks to a win Wednesday night. (AP Photo/Kamil Krzaczynski)
Kristaps Porzingis tried to will the Knicks to a win Wednesday night. (AP Photo/Kamil Krzaczynski)

Apparently, the Bulls didn’t learn their lesson after that, because Porzingis was back at it in the fourth quarter. With the game tied and just seconds left, Markkanen received a pass in stride, and drove to the basket for the win.

Porzingis wasn’t going to let that happen. He blocked Markkanen’s shot to send the game into overtime.

With the Bulls leading by two with just four seconds left in overtime, you knew who was going to get the ball once again.

Yep. That dunk counted. Porzingis not only sent the game to overtime, he also sent the game to double overtime.

Ultimately, Porzingis’ efforts were for nothing. The Knicks went on to lose to the Bulls 122-119. Though, it’s worth noting Porzingis gave the Knicks a chance to keep playing with a clutch three in the waning seconds of double overtime to make it a one-point game.

The Bulls must have felt fortunate when the clock hit zero. Because if you gave Porzingis another second Wednesday night, the game might still be going on.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik