The Brooklyn Nets survived a near collapse against the Chicago Bulls, winning 112-109

The Brooklyn Nets return home to face the Chicago Bulls on Friday night after completing a remarkable 3-game road trip. Amazingly, the Nets have lost every game to teams with a combined record of 39-70. Perhaps it’s a sign that this year’s tanking effort has been blessed by the basketball gods, but that’s no comfort to Head Coach Jordi Fernández.

“I don’t think I’m moving forward [from tough losses],” Jordi said with a half-smile before the game. “This is what I tell the players, but for me, it’s a different story.”

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The trip started with the Nets blowing eight points past the Memphis Grizzlies as the home team closed 13-0; it ended with Saddiq Bey hitting a 30-meter prayer and the New Orleans Pelicans won the tournament, which they led for only five minutes. But while that loss showed the heartbreak of a late game, their loss to the Dallas Mavericks may have been more unlikely. Dallas, the worst three-point shooting team in the league, shot 44% from deep compared to 24% for the Nets. It was time to catch up.

The Chicago Bulls have survived Josh Giddey’s absence, going a respectable 4-4 since their leader suffered a hamstring injury, but will need similar luck to hand Brooklyn its sixth straight loss. At first, they didn’t get it. Different Brooklyn Nets hit 3-pointers in the first quarter, and Danny Wolf opened the second quarter by going on the glass at the end of the shot clock…

It seemed like it was one of those nights. In both groups. Ten Nets played, ten Nets scored, and the entire team shot 19-of-40 from deep. On the other hand, the Bulls committed only eight turnovers and shot 58.8% from inside the arc, playing a decent game without Giddey … except that they couldn’t throw a seashell into the ocean, shooting 5-of-23 from deep three-point range.

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That way, the Nets were on cruise control, starting with a dominant second quarter. Wolf’s bank shot definitely helped, but he had a solid night overall. After entering the night under 38% from the floor on the new year, Wolf put up 13/4/4 on 5-of-8 shooting. Most importantly, he didn’t answer it once…

The starting lineup, Egor Dëmin and Drake Powell, didn’t make much of an impact, combining for eight points on 2-of-11 shooting. However, Nolan Traore stepped up from the bench, hit a few 3-pointers and dished out six assists…

As a reward, Nolan closed out the game with a pass from Dëmin, and somehow, the pressure was on. What was a comfortable game for two hours turned into a sweat in the fourth quarter as the Bulls finally got up from three, made four by Jalen Smith. That sense of uneasiness carried over to Barclays Center as the Nets stared down the barrel of another heartbreaking loss, missing a layup after the layup and answering it whenever Chicago needed an upgrade…

Fernandez’s nightmare soon turned into reality; in an instant, the Netas entered, one after the other. He didn’t do anything too complicated – a simple Michael Porter Jr. pin. – but the Bulls were confused nonetheless. Coby White switched to a very long MPJ, bent the screen, bounced off White’s hip on the downswing, and ended the layup with 5.4 seconds left.

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Did Jordi draw it indeed so, down to the last detail? Not really: “No, I just need him to catch the ball after that. He knows what he’s doing.”

Michael Porter Jr., a possible All-Star, was as worthy a hero as any. Noah Clowney went down for schneid, hitting three of three for 23 and 11 doubles and Nic Claxton posted 7/14/5, his season-high rebounds. Still, it was MPJ who led all scorers with 26, scoring 12 of Brooklyn’s 23 points in the fourth quarter.

But the Nets needed one last stop, and that’s when Drake Powell erased any concerns with his quiet night. Tre Jones tried to put Nikola Vučević, who led them in scoring with 19 goals, at the top of the key. It looks like the visitors were planning a deal with White, just trying to get their two most powerful threats into action, but they didn’t quite get there…

Powell pogo’d, reached out, deflected the pass, and secured the loose ball. Clowney then made his free-throws, while Vooch missed a rebound as the microphone rang. For Drake, it seemed simple: “Just trying to have active hands, high work on the ball, and doing my best to pass the ball.

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The Nets did so yes enough, fueled by a couple of heroic performances from the vet and the rookie. The Nets mercifully won a close game, and Jordi Fernández can breathe: “The lesson is that there is no safe lead in the NBA. Teams will always retaliate and obviously, give them credit … but it’s better to learn that winning than losing, right?”

“It was a bit of déjà vu, just seeing the game slipping away, but it’s good to find ways to win those games instead of finding ways to lose them.” — Nick Claxton

Final score: Brooklyn Nets 112, Chicago Bulls 109

Milestone Watch

• The meeting of Michael Porter Jr. the game-winner with 5.4 seconds left tonight was his second career go-ahead goal with less than 10 seconds left.

• It was Clowney’s 10th career 20-point game and sixth of the season, and his 11 rebounds were also a career high. This was his second career double.

This win did not move the Nets up in the Tankathon rankings. They remain in fifth place but are now two games behind Washington and Utah who are tied for third and fourth. So it’s not a big deal.

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Next

This was the first half of a home-and-home, so next up for the Brooklyn Nets are the Chicago Bulls in their place. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm ET on Sunday evening.