The Nets ended up closing one out.
After another amazing night from Michael Porter Jr. and a big lift off the bench, Brooklyn snapped a five-game skid with a 112-109 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Friday night at Barclays Center, improving to 12-27.
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Porter finished with 26 points and seven rebounds, hitting a game-high basket in the final seconds, while Noah Clowney added 23. Brooklyn’s reserves outscored Chicago’s bench 48–41, led by Day’Ron Sharpe’s 14 points, six rebounds and three assists in 19 minutes.
It was also a historic night for longtime Nets analyst Tim Capstraw, who called his 2,000th consecutive game.
“I’m glad we got it done,” Clowney said. “It was good [to win]but it shouldn’t have been that close.”
Brooklyn didn’t shoot the ball well right away, but their depth kept them strong until the game opened. Despite shooting just 40% from the field in the first quarter, eight different Nets scored in the first 12 minutes, with Porter leading the way with five points. Chicago leaned heavily on Nikola Vucevic early, as the veteran center scored eight points in that stretch.
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The Bulls shot 56.3% in the quarter, but four turnovers kept them from capitalizing. The Nets turned those mistakes into five points and went deep, hitting six 3-pointers in the first quarter to take a four-point lead after one. Danny Wolf’s triple to left wing with 9.7 seconds left was huge for them, giving Brooklyn a late jolt in the second straight.
The difference came in the second half, when the Nets bench and defense took over. Ten different Brooklyn players scored at the 2:23 mark of the period as the Nets pushed the pace and kept fresh bodies rotating inside. Clowney poured in 10 points in the quarter, while reserves Wolf, Sharpe, Terance Mann and Cam Thomas combined for 15, with Sharpe leading the team with eight.
“I mean, they were solid,” Nic Claxton said of the second unit. “They’ve been strengthening us a little bit because the first unit, we weren’t good. We weren’t starting games well. Today was better, but they were doing very well. And that team, we need those guys to continue to grow and stay consistent, and the first unit, we’ll be better too.”
Brooklyn shot 61.1% in the second quarter and held Chicago to just 25% shooting, outscoring the Bulls 30-17 and building a commanding halftime lead. Chicago’s 40 first-half points were the second-fewest the Nets have allowed in the first half of the season, and Brooklyn’s cushion was their second-largest halftime advantage of the year.
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The Nets continued to dominate the third quarter, continuing to win the perimeter battle while limiting the Bulls’ chances on stops together. Brooklyn went 5-of-9 from three in that span and forced four Chicago turnovers, eventually taking an 89-72 lead into the fourth.
But the Nets’ offense stalled again, and the Bulls took full advantage. Chicago erased what had been a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter, cutting it to four with five minutes left. After a back-and-forth, Isaac Okoro made a steal and dunk to make it a one-point game with 14 seconds left. Drake Powell missed a layup at the other end, and Tre Jones raced down the floor to complete an acrobatic layup that put Chicago ahead 109-108, forcing a Nets timeout with 11.4 seconds left.
“I mean, the lesson is there’s no safe lead in the NBA teams are always going to bounce back, and obviously give them credit,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said.
Porter responded with the biggest play of the night, cutting through Chicago’s defense to complete a layup to put Brooklyn back ahead by one with 5.4 seconds left. On the next inbounds play, Powell intercepted the pass and scooped it up to end the threat. Clowney then hit two free throws to extend the lead to three with 2.5 seconds left, and Vucevic was desperate.
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Claxton had a season-high 14 rebounds, while Nolan Traore added eight points and a career-high seven assists.
Vicevic led Chicago with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists.
The Nets face the Bulls again on Sunday, this time at the United Center.
