Bulls 92, Nets 90
NEW YORK -- Carlos Boozer had a monster game with 29 points and 18 rebounds, but Nate Robinson made the winning shot for Chicago when he drove the lane and dropped in a floater with 22 seconds left that sent the Bulls to a 92-90 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night at the Barclays Center.
Deron Williams and Brook Lopez paced the Nets with 30 and 28 points, respectively. But after Williams fed Lopez for a shot from the baseline in the final seconds, Lopez's shot bounced out.
Boozer led five Chicago players in double figures. Luol Deng (18), Jimmy Butler (16), Robinson (12) and Kirk Hinrich (10) contributed to the balanced effort by the Bulls (41-33), who took three of four games against the Nets (43-32) this season.
The Bulls cut a 47-36 halftime deficit to 67-65 in the third quarter behind Boozer, who had 10 points and seven rebounds in the quarter as Chicago outscored the Nets 29-20. Entering the fourth quarter, Williams (21) and Lopez (27) had combined to score 48 of Brooklyn's 67 points.
In the first quarter, Lopez picked up the hot shooting that the Nets displayed in scoring 66 points in the first half on Wednesday in Cleveland. Lopez drained 8 of 9 shots from the floor and had 18 points as the Nets moved to a 26-13 lead. Williams had six assists in the quarter and Reggie Evans grabbed seven boards. The Nets shot 57.1 percent from the field in the first quarter (12 of 21).
Lopez cooled off in the second quarter and was held scoreless until Williams fed him for a baseline dunk with 4.7 left in the half, staking the Nets to a 47-36 halftime advantage.
With 23 seconds showing, the three referees got together to make two corrections on one play. The ball had gone out under the Nets basket and it was originally called Nets ball. The ref near midcourt then blew his whistle to say it was Chicago's ball. That's when Eric Lewis, the third referee, stepped forward and decided it was Nets ball. The three conferred briefly and Lewis' call stood. Seconds later, Williams and Lopez teamed up for the final points of the half.
NOTES: Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said Derrick Rose has been doing everything in practice but backed away from predicting when he might play his first minutes of the season. "He's close, but he's not going to come back till he's ready," Thibodeau said. "Right now, we're not doing a lot of scrimmaging because of where we are. When we did scrimmage, he looked very good. He's gotten more comfortable, he's moving along. He's very strong-willed and he's not going to be swayed by anybody. Only he knows (when he'll be ready). I trust him implicitly. When he's ready, he'll go." ... Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said his top priority for the rest of the season was to get Joe Johnson back in the lineup and ready for the playoffs. Johnson, who missed the last five games with a heel injury, started against the Bulls. Also back in the lineup for the Nets was Gerald Wallace, who was nursing a sore back. "Our number one priority would be for Joe to be healthy, playing minutes and us getting used to him being on the floor again," Carlesimo said. "We want to win and seedings are important, but the goal is to continue to play well and be rested and healthy for the playoffs." ... Bulls forward Taj Gibson on Tuesday reinjured the knee that kept him out for a 10-game stretch, starting in February and carrying into March. Gibson joins a long list of injured Bulls, which includes Rose (knee), Joakim Noah (foot), Richard Hamilton (back) and Marco Belinelli (abdominal strain). ... Lopez and Williams each averaged 21 points on the 5-3 road trip for the Nets. ... The 21 road victories are the most in Nets history. ... Brooklyn's 113-05 victory at Cleveland on Wednesday produced a season-best 31 assists and a season-high of 66 points in the first half. ... Over the last nine games, Reggie Evans is averaging 17.4 rebounds, 9.3 points and is shooting 54.5 percent from the floor (30 of 55). ... Charlotte visits the Nets on Saturday. ... The Bulls play at home against Orlando on Friday.
