New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Taj Gibson poured in 22 points in 28 minutes off the bench as the Chicago Bulls tipped off a season of high expectations with an emphatic 104-80 victory over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Getting Derrick Rose back from another devastating knee injury and adding savvy veteran Pau Gasol in free agency has the Bulls stamped as one of the major threats in the Eastern Conference. They did nothing to temper the hype on opening night, shooting nearly 51 percent from the field while stifling New Yorks offense all evening long. Both Gasol and Rose made notable contributions to the rout, with the former putting up 21 points and 11 rebounds and the 2010-11 NBA MVP scoring 13 points with five assists in his regular-season return to the court. I think its a lot of pressure off his shoulders because we have, I think, a variety of weapons, Gasol said of Rose. The Knicks, meanwhile, put up a dud in the head coaching debut of Phil Jackson disciple Derek Fisher. Carmelo Anthony was held to a modest 14 points on 5- of-13 accuracy and the team finished a poor 3-for-17 from 3-point range. We will get better. I believe that, Anthony said. Amare Stoudemire was New Yorks lone other player to score in double figures, managing 12 points along with eight rebounds. Chicago started off slowly, committing four early turnovers while getting behind 8-2 over the first four minutes of play. The Bulls found a groove later in the opening quarter, however, closing out the period on an 8-0 run that Aaron Brooks started with five straight points to claim a 24-20 edge. The spurt ultimately became a 21-6 swing as Chicago continued to outplay the Knicks over the early portion of the second quarter, building a 37-26 lead after Brooks drove and scored just over four minutes into the stanza. A Gibson jumper with 3:30 left in the half extended the Bulls advantage to 49-34. New York countered with a 9-2 sequence to get within single digits, but Gasols putback at the buzzer sent the Bulls into the break owning a 53-43 lead. Chicago then put the game out of reach with a dominant third quarter in which the Knicks were outscored by a 31-17 count. A 15-5 stretch midway through the frame, capped by back-to-back slams from Gasol and Gibson after Kirk Hinrich knocked down a 3-pointer, had the Bulls up by a comfortable 74-54 spread with 16 minutes left to play. The Bulls kept pouring it on down the stretch, with the lead reaching as high as 35 points before New York closed out the contest with an 11-2 run. Game Notes Rose sat out the final 71 games of last season with a torn meniscus and missed all of 2012-13 recovering from a torn ACL in his left knee ... Shane Larkin drew his first career NBA start in place of Knicks point guard Jose Calderon, scratched prior to the game with a strained right calf. Larkin had six points and three assists in 26 minutes ... The Bulls played without starting guard Jimmy Butler due to a sprained left thumb ... Chicago received 55 points from its reserves, with Brooks netting 13 and 2014 first-round pick Doug McDermott scoring 12 in his NBA debut ... The game marked the fourth time the teams squared off in a season opener, with the Bulls winning three of those contests. Rodney Hudson Jersey . In the days leading up to the draft, TSN.ca and TSN Radio basketball analyst Duane Watson looks at some of the names that will be headlining the event. Tonight, Michigans Nik Stauskas of Mississauga, Ontario. Gabe Jackson Jersey . In his first game with Boston University, the 17-year-old Eichel picked up five assists as his Boston University Terriers thumped St. http://www.cheapraidersjerseyschina.com/trent-sieg-jersey/. With the Pirates in the thick of the race in the NL Central, the timing couldnt be better. Liriano struck out a season-high 11 in seven innings to win consecutive starts for the first time this season and Pittsburgh beat the San Francisco Giants 3-1 on Tuesday night. Andre James Jersey . A 23-year-old rookie, Stroman is 4-2 with a 3.44 earned run average in 12 games this season, the past seven of those being starts. He logged the first scoreless outing of his career on Friday versus Oakland in a no-decision. Saeed Blacknall Jersey . The international synchronized skating competition takes place from January 31 - February 1, 2014, and features 39 teams from 10 countries, in senior, junior, and novice.New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Jonathan Holmes scored 17 of his 19 points in a lopsided second half as No. 10 Texas upended Iowa 71-57 in a 2K Classic semifinals at Madison Square Garden. Texas outscored the Hawkeyes 47-27 after halftime and will play the Syracuse-California winner on Friday night for the events title. Isaiah Taylor chipped in 15 points, Javan Felix added 11 and the Longhorns (3-0) held Iowa to 29.6 percent shooting. Aaron White scored a game-high 23 points for the Hawkeyes (2-1), though 14 came at the foul line. Final Score: (15) VCU 106, Maryland-Eastern Shore 66 Richmond, VA (SportsNetwork.com) - No. 15 VCU started the game with an 18-0 run and overwhelmed Maryland-Eastern Shore in a 106-66 win on Thursday night. Unlike Tuesdays win over Toledo that saw them trailing at halftime, the Rams (3-0) avoided a slow start thanks to their Havoc defense. They forced four turnovers and made their first seven shots on their way to an 18-0 lead 3:40 into the game. The Hawks later cut the lead to 12 but were never able to get within single digits. The Rams ended the half on a 23-4 run to make it 61-30 at the break. The Rams did not shoot quite as well in the second half, but continued to expand their lead to the final 40-point margin. Terry Larrier led them with 21 points in just 20 minutes on 7-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-7 on 3-pointers. Treveon Graham added 17 points in 15 minutes. The bulk of the scoring by Maryland-Eastern Shore (1-3) came from just three players. Devon Walker led the Hawks with 21 points on 7-of-11 3-point shooting, Devin Martin addded 20 including 11 from the free-throw line, and Michael Myers chipped in 14.dddddddddddd Final Score: (17) Connecticut 65, College of Charleston 57 San Juan, PR (SportsNetwork.com) - Ryan Boatright scored 19 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out five assists to lead the 17th-ranked Connecticut Huskies over the College of Charleston, 65-57, in opening-round action of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum. Amida Brimah added 14 points and four boards for UConn (2-0), which will next face Dayton in the semifinal round on Friday. The Flyers defeated Texas A&M, 55-53, earlier on Thursday. Daniel Hamilton, the brother of former UConn and NBA star Richard Hamilton, added 15 points for the Huskies, who held off a pesky Cougars squad. Anthony Stitt had 17 points and Adjehi Baru scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the College of Charleston (1-2), which faces Texas A&M on Friday. Final Score: (24) Michigan 71, Detroit 62 Ann Arbor, MI (SportsNetwork.com) - Caris Levert scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds in leading No. 24 Michigan to a 71-62 win over Detroit in a regional matchup of the Legends Classic. Zak Irvin had 18 points and Derrick Walton Jr. scored 16 with six rebounds for the Wolverines (3-0), who went on a 16-1 run after Detroit had tied the game at 52 with 5:39 remaining. Juwan Howard Jr., son of the Wolverines Fab Five star, paced the Titans (1-2) with 24 points and eight rebounds. Brandan Kearney finished with 14 points and five assists in Detroits 14th consecutive loss in the series. [url=http://w