Bulls bury Nets under barrage of 3s in 124-102 rematch win
Published in Basketball
Two nights after the Brooklyn Nets stole one from Chicago at Barclays Center, the Bulls returned the favor at United Center and then some, turning Sunday’s rematch into a 3-point avalanche the Nets never survived.
Without Michael Porter Jr. on the front end of a back-to-back, the Nets were already in a tough spot. It got worse quickly. A sluggish defensive start and repeated breakdowns on the perimeter turned the opening minutes into a mess Brooklyn couldn’t clean up, and Chicago made them pay for every missed rotation, sending the Nets to an 124-102 loss that dropped them to 12-28.
Rookies Egor Dëmin and Danny Wolf did what they could to steady the offense early, knocking down three first-quarter 3-pointers between them to keep Brooklyn within striking distance. But the other end of the floor never cooperated. The Nets lost shooters again and again, and the Bulls punished them, hitting six of their first seven attempts from deep while shooting nearly 70% overall in the opening quarter. Coby White drilled three triples, Ayo Dosunmu added two off the bench and Jalen Smith chipped in seven points on a perfect start as Chicago stormed out to a 39-22 lead after one.
Brooklyn made a couple runs in the second quarter, trimming the deficit to 10 twice, but it never lasted. Every time the Nets started to inch closer, the Bulls answered right back with 3s and easy looks at the rim, keeping the game at a comfortable distance.
Nic Claxton tried to power the push with 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting, and Brooklyn shot 57.1% as a team in the period, but Chicago stayed hot from deep, drilling six more triples to take a 70-51 lead into halftime. The Bulls buried 12 3-pointers on their first 20 attempts in the opening half, with White leading the way with 16 points, Dosunmu adding 13 off the bench and Nikola Vucevic scoring 11.
Cam Thomas did his best to keep Brooklyn organized amid the chaos, handing out five assists off the bench in the first half, matching his season high for assists in any half and tying the third-most he’s recorded in a half in his career.
With Porter and Drake Powell sidelined, the Nets opened the game with Dëmin, Wolf, Claxton, Terance Mann and Noah Clowney. But searching for some kind of jolt, head coach Jordi Fernández went to a near full platoon change to begin the second half, rolling out Thomas, Claxton, Nolan Traore, Tyrese Martin and Jalen Wilson.
It didn’t move the needle. Chicago opened the third quarter on a 9-3 burst that forced Fernández into an early timeout, and the Nets never found a way to make it interesting. The Bulls went just 3 for 10 from deep in the period, but they still shot 50% overall while holding Brooklyn to 33.3% shooting, stretching the lead to 95-71 entering the final quarter.
By that point, Chicago fans in attendance were probably more interested in checking the Bears-Rams score over at Soldier Field. And in the fourth quarter, the score was never closer than 20 points.
Traore led six Nets scorers in double figures with 16 points, going 4 for 5 from 3-point range, while Thomas finished with a career-high 10 assists despite scoring just three points on 1-for-6 shooting. White led seven Bulls in double figures with 24 points, four rebounds and three assists, as Chicago knocked down 20 of its 46 attempts from behind the arc.
Brooklyn will look to bounce back Monday when it hosts the Phoenix Suns at Barclays Center.
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