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Nets’ Late Comeback Against Bulls Secures 20th Win of Season

By Charles Daye

Apr 8, 2017; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler (21) drives past Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez (11) during the fourth quarter at Barclays Center. Brooklyn Nets won 107-106. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 8, 2017; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler (21) drives past Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez (11) during the fourth quarter at Barclays Center. Brooklyn Nets won 107-106. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports /
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106. 24. Final. 107. 147

The Brooklyn Nets bounced back to beat the Chicago Bulls, 107-106 in their final home game to get their 20th win of the season.

In a tight game against the Chicago Bulls that came down to clutch shooting, the Brooklyn Nets came out on top. Jimmy Butler led all scorers with 33 points.

Caris LeVert and Spencer Dinwiddie led Brooklyn in scoring with 19 points apiece, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson scored 16 points. It was a rough game for Brook Lopez and Jeremy Lin, who both struggled offensively, only scoring 13 and 12 points respectively.

The Nets got off to an early lead on the Bulls in the first quarter. Brooklyn would lead Chicago by as much as 15 points early on in the game. Lopez and the “Swing Brothers,” Levert and Hollis-Jefferson, were all tied with six points to lead Brooklyn in scoring. Lin scored five points in the opening quarter. Butler hit a three at the horn, but the Nets still led the Bulls 32-25 at the end of the first.

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Chicago would continue to chip away at Brooklyn’s lead, cutting the Nets lead down to three at one point. However, one or two sequences later, a well-timed three by Lin resulted in Chicago calling a timeout. The Bulls trailed Brooklyn 47-39 with a little over four minutes left in the half.

The Nets had the lead at halftime, 51-45. Lin led Brooklyn in scoring with 10 points on 50 percent shooting from the field. It was a tale of two quarters for the Nets. They outscored Chicago 32-25 in the first, but were outscored 20-19 in the second. In fact, Levert and Lopez did not score in the second quarter. Butler had the game-high 13 points at halftime.

In the third-to-last game of the season, third quarter woes hit the Nets once again. Chicago outscored Brooklyn 37-24 in the third to take an 82-75 lead at the end of three. Brook-Lin only scored a combined four points in the quarter.

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In the final minutes of the game, the Nets cut the Bulls’ lead down to one point to trail 97-96. Hollis-Jefferson had the Lin-assisted go-ahead layup to take the lead, 98-97, with 2:22 left in the game.

The Bulls would retake the lead under Butler’s leadership, but Dinwiddie had the clutch three-pointer to tie the game 101-101 with 1:23 remaining. Clutch foul shooting from Hollis-Jefferson and Dinwiddie would give Brooklyn the lead, 105-103, with only 13.6 seconds remaining.

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The Nets improve to 20-60 on the season. Their next game is in Boston against the Celtics on Monday.