Derrick Rose, Reggie Bullock heroics lift Knicks to OT win over Pelicans

It was a great Garden battle of power-forward stud southpaws as Zion Williamson went toe-to-toe with Julius Randle.

But the game was decided by the Knicks’ backcourt of Derrick Rose and Reggie Bullock, propelling the Knicks to their sixth straight victory, 122-112 in overtime, over the Pelicans in a Sunday matinee.

In moving to a season-best 31-27 record, the Knicks are now tied with Atlanta for fifth place and in the middle of their longest winning streak since 2014.

The Knicks rallied from a six-point deficit in the final 1:30 — capped by Rose taking an inbounds with 7.8 seconds left, driving down the lane and having the wherewithal to whip a pass to Bullock, who drained the game-tying 3-pointer from the left corner with 2.3 seconds left.

The Pelicans should have fouled Rose, and Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy was irate at the entire bungle job afterward.

“I thought about shooting it at first, but I saw Reggie in the corner,” Rose said in his postgame on-court interview. “I delivered it on the spot and Reg is a great shooter. I did see Lonzo [Ball] cheat in a little bit which gave me the passing angle to actually get it to Reg to get off a good shot.’’

According to Rose, the first option off the inbounds was trying to get it to Randle, but he was well covered.

“He’s great in the pick-and-roll,’’ said Bullock, who has been the Knicks starting shooting guard all season. “And [Rose] trusted me to make that shot.”

To boot, Rose then blocked Eric Bledsoe at the buzzer to force overtime. Rose scored the first bucket of overtime on a driving layup and Bullock hit a 3-pointer as the Knicks pulled away to spoil Williamson’s NBA Garden debut that saw him rack up 34 points.

“I haven’t had this feeling in a long time this kind of winning streak,’’ Rose said. “That’s what this team is all about — when one person goes the next person steps up.’’

“No moment is too big for him,’’ said Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, who lobbied to trade for Rose in February. “He’s great under pressure. He made a great rim read.’’

Williamson outscored Randle 34-33, and the former No. 1 pick was more efficient. Still Randle became the first Knick to score 30-plus points in four straight games since Carmelo Anthony in 2014 and couldn’t care less whether he won or lost his matchup against Williamson with the Knicks playing their best ball of the season.

“Great week for us, man,’’ Randle said. “Anytime you get wins, we took care of home court and took care of the road. I judge things by wins and losses. I know that’s not a great way to judge everything, but at this point of the season that’s how I’m judging it.’’

Rose made sure the Knicks won it. He finished with 23 points and five assists in his best game since coming back from COVID-19. Bullock added 15 points (6-for-8 from the field) before fouling out in overtime.

Rose was 5-for-5 in the fourth quarter and overtime to make up for the loss of RJ Barrett, who fouled out dragging down Williamson after an offensive rebound late in regulation. In the past four games, Rose has committed just three turnovers in 108 minutes of action.

Instead of praising Rose for his smart last-second play, Van Gundy buried his team.

“There was no lack of clarity,” a miffed Van Gundy said. “We made two mistakes on the play. We screwed up the play. When we do that, we deserve to lose. … I don’t care if you’re a senior in high school, you should know what to do with 7.8 seconds left. No excuse whatsoever.”

Besides not fouling, Van Gundy was referring to Ball cheating off Bullock, leaving him open.

“You got be focused — when a person puts it on the floor, quick foul,’’ Williamson said. “You got to learn from it.’’

In his first NBA game at the Garden, Williamson helped the Pelicans stage a second-half comeback from 13 points down at halftime and it looked like they had the rematch win in the bag. But these Knicks never give up.

Williamson put on a show, hitting 13 of 23 shots including a handful of driving slams. He was looking to avenge a loss to the Knicks in New Orleans on Wednesday, where the Knicks kept the ball out of his hands in the fourth quarter.

“It was like two bulls going at it,’’ Thibodeau said of the Williamson-Randle battle. “The physicality part of it and the skill level of it. I’m glad we got the guy we have. Julius is our engine. He made big play after big play.’’

But Rose and Bullock combined to make the biggest.