The Brooklyn Nets returned home to face the Chicago Bulls on Friday night after completing a miraculous 3-game road trip. Miraculously, the Nets lost all games to teams with a combined 39-70 record. Perhaps it’s a sign that this year’s attempt at tanking is blessed by the basketball gods, but that’s no consolation to Head Coach Jordi Fernández.
“I don’t think I really move on [from tough losses],” said Jordi with half a smile pregame. “It’s what I tell the players, but me personally, it’s a different
story.”
The trip began with the Nets blowing a late eight-point lead to the Memphis Grizzlies as the hosts closed on a 13-0 run; it ended with Saddiq Bey hitting a 30-foot prayer and the New Orleans Pelicans winning a contest they only led for five minutes. But while those losses featured late-game heartbreak, their loss to the Dallas Mavericks may have been the most improbable. Dallas, the worst 3-point shooting team in the league, shot 44% from deep compared to just 24% for the Nets. It still came down to clutch time.
The Chicago Bulls have survived Josh Giddey’s absence, a respectable 4-4 since their leader injured his hamstring, but they would need similar luck to hand Brooklyn their sixth straight loss. Early on, they didn’t get it. Six different Brooklyn Nets hit a 3-pointer in the first quarter, then Danny Wolf opened up the second quarter by going glass at the end of the shot-clock…
It seemed like it was just one of those nights. For both teams. Ten Nets played, ten Nets scored, and the team as a whole shot 19-of-40 from deep. Conversely, the Bulls committed just eight turnovers and shot 58.8% inside the arc, playing a respectable offensive game without Giddey … aside from the fact that they couldn’t throw a seashell in the ocean, shooting 5-of-23 from deep through three quarters.
As such, the Nets were in cruise control, beginning with a dominant second quarter. Wolf’s bank shot certainly helped, but he had a solid night overall. After entering the night shooting under 38% from the floor in the new year, Wolf put up 13/4/4 on 5-of-8 shooting. Crucially, he didn’t turn it over once…
The rookies in the starting lineup, Egor Dëmin and Drake Powell, weren’t as impactful, combining for eight points on 2-of-11 shooting. However, Nolan Traore picked up the slack off the bench, hitting a couple 3-pointers and dishing six assists…
As a reward, Nolan closed the game over Dëmin, and somehow, the pressure was on. What had been a comfortable game for two hours turned sweaty in the fourth quarter as the Bulls finally woke up from three, with four makes from Jalen Smith. That uneasy feeling swept through Barclays Center with the Nets looking down the barrel of another excruciating loss, missing layup after layup and turning it over anytime Chicago needed a boost…
Fernández’s nightmare quickly turned reality; suddenly, the Nets were inbounding, trailing by one. He didn’t draw up anything too complex — a simple pin down for Michael Porter Jr. — but the Bulls were confused nonetheless. Coby White switched onto the much taller MPJ, who curled the screen, bounced off White’s hip downhill, and finished a layup with 5.4 seconds left.
Did Jordi draw it up exactly like that, down to the last detail? Not exactly: “No, I just need him to catch the ball after that. He knows what he’s doing.”
Michael Porter Jr., likely All-Star, was a worthy hero as any. Noah Clowney got off the schneid, hitting four threes to notch a 23-and-11 double-double while Nic Claxton put up 7/14/5, his season-high in rebounds. Still, it was MPJ who led all scorers with 26, scoring 12 of Brooklyn’s 23 fourth-quarter points.
But the Nets did need one final stop, and it was here the Drake Powell erased any concern about his quiet offensive night. Tre Jones attempted to enter it to Nikola Vučević, who led them in scoring with 19, at the top of the key. It appeared the visitors were setting up a handoff with White, simply trying to put their two most dynamic threats in an action together, but they never got there…
Powell pogo’d, reached out, deflected the pass, and secured the loose ball. Clowney then made his free-throws, while Vooch missed a desperation heave as the buzzer sounded. The Nets mercifully won a close game, and Jordi Fernández could exhale: “The lesson is that there’s no safe lead in the NBA. Teams will always punch back and obviously, give them credit … but it’s way better to learn that winning than losing, right?”
Final Score: Brooklyn Nets 112, Chicago Bulls 109
Next Up
This was the first half of a home-and-home, so next up for the Brooklyn Nets is the Chicago Bulls over at their place. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET on Sunday evening.
