Nets making strides ahead of rematch with Bulls
The Brooklyn Nets edged the visiting Chicago Bulls on Friday to stop a five-game skid.
On Sunday, the Nets will try to win consecutive games for just the third time this season as they enter a rematch against the Bulls in Chicago.
Brooklyn squandered a 20-point, fourth-quarter lead Friday before recovering in crunch time. Michael Porter Jr. hit a go-ahead layup with 5.4 seconds to play. Drake Powell stole the Bulls' ensuing inbound pass and Noah Clowney made two free throws to seal the result.
"We just had to stick with it," the Nets' Nic Claxton said. "Really, we shouldn't have been that close down the stretch. We got to be better, but at the end of the day, we got the win. That's what matters."
Porter Jr. paced Brooklyn with 26 points, hovering around his team-leading average of 25.8.
He considered the last play an opportunity for redemption after what he felt was a shaky showing during Wednesday's narrow loss at New Orleans and a late turnover against the Bulls.
"This is how a losing team becomes a winning team," Porter Jr. said.
While the Nets are more relevant in the NBA Draft lottery standings than the chase for the final spot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament, they have shown more competitiveness lately. Four of the five losses in their most recent slide came by eight points or less.
"The lesson is that there's no safe lead in the NBA. Teams will always punch back," Brooklyn coach Jordi Fernandez said.
For Chicago, the moral of the story came from its resilience earlier in the game.
"We gave ourselves a chance, but it's hard when you are down 20 and put in so much energy, and toward the end the little plays matter," said Nikola Vucevic, who led the Bulls with 19 points. "And they made that one extra play and won the game.
"But overall, we should have done more over the course of 48 minutes. We can't start playing once we are down 20 points. Still sucks when you lose this way but is what it is and we have to move on to Sunday."
Bulls coach Billy Donovan might favor a bigger lineup after giving forward Jalen Smith more time alongside Vucevic in the frontcourt in Friday's second half. Smith scored 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter to go with 13 rebounds and four blocks.
"He's been great for us playing at the four, playing at the five," Vucevic said. "Done a great job for us protecting the paint, rebounding the ball as well, bringing us physicality. I've been enjoying being on the court with him. That two-big lineup really helps us. We have good chemistry. He's been doing a lot for us."
Coby White shot 2 of 7 from 3-point range Friday, ending a stretch of four straight games against the Nets in which he made at least three shots from 3-point range.
Smith has grabbed at least five rebounds in six straight games against the Nets.
The Nets can clinch the four-game season series between the teams with a victory. Brooklyn prevailed 113-103 at Chicago on Dec. 3.