Complete history of the Brooklyn Nets playing on Christmas Day

Dec. 25, 2013

A year after being blown out by the Celtics at Barclays Center, the Nets had a chance to redeem themselves with a second-consecutive game on Christmas. However, it was yet another nightmare ending for Brooklyn.

The Nets had a promising start to the game, shooting 7-of-10 from the floor and were up by two at the end of the first quarter. Brooklyn proceeded to hit two field goals on a total of 15 attempts in the second quarter, which spurred a 12-0 run by Chicago. After a poor shooting performance, the Nets were only down by three points at the half, 41-38.

But Chicago blew the doors open in the third quarter and outscored Brooklyn, 36-20. The Nets weren’t strangers to starting the fourth quarter down by 20+ points, and that continued against the Bulls. Chicago entered the final quarter with a hefty 77-58 lead.

The Bulls, who were 3-11 on the road entering the day, left Brooklyn with a 93-76 win. The Nets were playing without center Brook Lopez, who had been ruled out for the remainder of the season a few days prior with a broken foot.

Brooklyn shot 35.2% from the field and 29.4% from the 3-point line. Only three players scored in double-digits. Williams led the Nets with 18 points (6-of-10), Mirza Teletovic added 17 (7-of-11) and Johnson had 12 (5-of-11).

Brooklyn native Taj Gibson was the Bulls’ highest-scorer with 20 points off the bench. Jimmy Butler was the leading starter with 15 points.

The loss was Nets’ fourth straight and put them at 9-19 on the year, but they managed to finish 44-38 during the regular season and make it to the playoff semifinals before falling to the Heat.