NEW YORK – Michael Porter Jr. gave the go-ahead play with 5.4 seconds left after Brooklyn blew a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter, and the Nets beat the Chicago Bulls 112-109 on Friday night.
Porter scored 26 points, and Noah Clowney added 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Nets, who ended a streak of five consecutive defeats. DayRon Sharp scored 14 points, and rookie Danny Wolf added 13 points.
Nikola Vucevic scored 19 points and Ayo Dosunmu 18 for the Bulls in the home-and-home series opener.
Coach Jordi Fernandez thought the Nets could have won all three games on their just-concluded trip, but it looks like they won’t need to worry about another close finish after a 15-0 run in the second quarter helped them take a 17-point halftime lead, their second-largest lead of the season.
Cam Thomas scored a triple to open the fourth quarter to take a 92-72 lead before the Bulls scored the next 11 points. Thomas hit another 3 to halt the surge, and the Nets still led by six with less than a minute left.
The Bulls then scored seven straight points to take a 109-108 lead on a Tre Jones layup with 11.4 seconds left. The Nets ran a play and Porter got the ball near the basket, putting the Nets back on top. Rookie Drake Powell then stole a Bulls pass from the sideline, and Clowney’s two free throws made it 112-109 before Vučević missed a quick 3-point attempt.
The Nets led 42-38 with about 4 minutes left in the second quarter, which should have been cut to 2 minutes, but Matas Bozlis missed a quick shot attempt with no one around. Clowney then converted a pair of three-point plays during a personal seven-point run, and after Porter made a 3-pointer, Clowney hit one to extend the lead to 17 before Igor Demin hit two free throws to end the run and make it 57-38.
- the next: The teams play Sunday at the United Center.