With an eight point lead and just under six minutes to play it looked as though the Chicago Bulls where going to escape with a win over a sub .500 team. Which is still the biggest issue this team has had all season. The Brooklyn Nets had other ideas as they came back on the Bulls to pull out a 107-106 win Saturday afternoon at the Barclays Center.
Brooklyn scored six of the games first eight points before the Bulls came back to tie it at six all. The Nets went on a 19 to 4 run to build a lead of 15 points with 3:31 left in the quarter. It took the Bulls to the very end of the quarter to cut the Nets lead to under ten points. Chicago needed two Jimmy Butler 3-pointers sandwiched around a Brooklyn basket in the final :29 seconds to cut the Nets lead to seven points 32-25 after one quarter.
The 2nd quarter didn’t feature much offense as the teams combined to score 39 points with the Bulls outscoring the Nets 20-19. The Nets took a 14 point lead with 10:37 left to play in the quarter, but the Bulls managed to work that lead down to just three points with 6:24 left in the quarter. The Bulls where never able to tie the game or take the lead in the 2nd quarter and the Nets where able to push their lead back to six points 51-45 going into halftime.
Brooklyn pushed it’s lead to nine points early in the 3rd quarter at 55-46, but Chicago scored the games next nine point and tied the game 55 all with 7:35 left in the quarter. There where four ties before the Bulls could take the lead for good in the quarter at 66-65 with 4:54 left to play. Chicago built it’s lead to nine points, but the Nets got the final bucket of the quarter to make it a seven point game 82-75 heading into the 4th quarter.
Brooklyn cut the Bulls lead to four points very early in the 4th quarter, but Chicago held then off and built the lead back to seven points. Chicago managed to keep their lead right around that seven or eight point range and with a 97-88 lead with 4:24 left in the game it looked like the Bulls would end up with a win. Brooklyn scored the next 10 points to change that as they took a 98-97 lead with 2:21 left to play. Chicago took the lead back and pushed it to three points, but a Nets 3-pointer tied the game at 101 all. The teams traded baskets before Brooklyn was able to take a bit of control and take a four point lead at 107-103. A Jimmy Butler 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded made it a 107-106 game.
On a side note Butler was the only Bulls player to score in the final 4;24 of the game.
Caris LeVert and Spencer Dinwiddie (off the bench) tie for the Nets top scoring honors with 19 points apiece. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson posted a double-double with 16 points and a game high 12 rebounds. Brook Lopez scored 13 points while Jeremy Lin added 12 points and handed out a game high 7 assists.
Jimmy Butler was the games top scorer with 33 points. Robin Lopez had 16 points and a team high 8 rebounds. Jerian Grant added 15 points and handed out a team high 5 assists while the returning Dwayne Wade scored 14 points in 25 minutes of game action.
The win was Brooklyn’s 20th making them 20-60 on the season. The Nets get a day off before they travel to Boston to face the 50-29 Celtics on Monday night. The Bulls drop to 39-41 with the loss. Chicago will also get a day off as they return home to face the 28-51 Orlando on Magic Monday night.
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