DEERFIELD, Ill. — Joakim Noah has an idea why James L. Dolan and the New York Knicks would have a keen interest in eavesdropping on the Chicago Bulls.

"We've been busting them," Noah, a Bulls center, said Tuesday after hearing that Dolan, the Knicks' owner, had audio technicians with microphones stand at both ends of the court during the Bulls' 108-101 victory at Madison Square Garden on Friday. "We've played them three times this year and we rocked them three times."

The disclosure that microphones were employed, ostensibly to pick up what was said by and to the Knicks star Carmelo Anthony during the game, was made by The Star-Ledger of Newark.

On Tuesday, a person in the NBA with knowledge of the Knicks' actions said Dolan had also deployed the microphones during Sunday's visit by the New Orleans Hornets.

Dolan apparently felt compelled to resort to the microphones as a result of what occurred on Jan. 7 at the Garden, when the on-court trash-talking of the Boston Celtics' Kevin Garnett so provoked Anthony that he sought to confront Garnett after the game. That, in turn, led to a one-game suspension for Anthony. Dolan might have decided to preserve a record of whatever verbal abuse was being directed at Anthony in case other incidents arose in future games, beginning with last Friday's against Chicago.

Notes

• Former Rainier Beach High star Jamal Crawford scored a season-high 30 points, including 12 straight to start the fourth quarter, and the Los Angeles Clippers looked fine without Chris Paul in a 117-109 win in Houston. The Clippers won their second straight game despite missing Paul, who is day to day with a bruised right kneecap.

• Wilson Chandler hit a tiebreaking three-pointer with 14.9 seconds left in overtime and host Denver beat Portland 115-111.

• Dwight Howard had 31 points and 16 rebounds, Kobe Bryant scored 31 and the Los Angeles Lakers routed visiting Milwaukee 104-88.