Game Recap: Bulls top Nets for fourth straight win

David Banks - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - Friday, March 14 2025

CHICAGO - The Chicago Bulls (28-38) can't even tank properly; either that or they just refuse to tank, no matter the position they are in. After trading away Zach Lavine and going through a stretch that saw the Bulls go just 2-9, things have suddenly started to turn around for this team as they are now closer to the No. 8 seed than missing the play-in round.

That is a slap in the face for the fans who wanted this team to tank this season, as they are playing themselves out of a lottery pick altogether. Take their game against the Brooklyn Nets (22-44) at the United Center on Thursday as a prime example of how frustrating the season has been for this team.

Not only were the Bulls trailing at the break, but the Nets were controlling things through three quarters and held a 92-82 lead entering the fourth. Battling back from double-digit leads hasn't been an issue for the Bulls, but some were wondering how the team would respond without some key pieces. It's safe to say the Bulls responded as they outscored the Nets 34-18 over the final 12 minutes and picked up a 116-110 victory.

It was the Bulls fourth consecutive victory which gives them their longest winning streak of the season. That alone is hard to believe and an accomplishment in itself, as this team is ok with being mediocre at best. Coby White continues to impress, and with Josh Giddey out of the lineup for the foreseeable future with an ankle injury, it will be up to White to pick up some of the slack.

Although his shooting hasn't been nearly as good this season as last season, White continues to play aggressively, and that aggressive nature has helped turn his season around over the past month. He led all scorers with 31 points by going 12-24 shooting, including 3-8 from deep. Replacing Giddey in the starting lineup was Kevin Huerter, who had already shown what he could do when called upon.

Take away his first few games with the Bulls when he couldn't make a shot, and Huerter has been very good, and that continued with another solid 18-point night. Chicago also received 18 points from Tre Jones, who continues to fill in for Lonzo Ball and is starting to put himself in a position where the Bulls will have to consider bringing him back.

Not only were the Bulls without Giddey, but Billy Donovan made a surprising lineup change and went back to Nikola Vucevic over the hot-hand Zach Collins. Ever since Collins moved to the starting lineup, he has been a double-double machine, and the Bulls offense has looked much better. Collins gave Chicago some valuable minutes off the bench to finish with nine points and eight rebounds, which was more than the seven points Vucevic had put forth.

Two of the bigger surprises in this one were the play of Julian Phillips and Patrick Williams off the bench as they gave the Bulls a much-needed lift. Although Williams only picked up 10 points, it was the way he got those points as he was finally aggressive enough on offense not to pass up the shot. You then had Phillips give the Bulls his best game of the season as he led the Bulls bench with 16 points and seven boards in a career-high 34 minutes.

When you look at the Nets, not only are they a team that is tanking, but the Bulls should be taking a page out of their book to learn how to tank properly. Despite their struggles, this is still a competitive enough basketball team with several players capable of making an impact. Cam Thomas is one of those guys, as he paced the Nets offense with 24 points and 10 assists for a massive double-double.

The Nets also received a double-double from Nic Claxton, who continues to go about his business with 18 points and 14 boards, while Cameron Johnson and his 16 points rounded out strong efforts from the Nets starting five. Brooklyn also saw Ziaiare Williams chip in with 11 points, and Tyrese Martin explode for five triples off the bench, as his 19 points were more than half of the total points from the Nets bench.

You could make the case that one player ultimately decided this game, with D'Angelo Russell having one of the worst games of his career. Not only did he go 0-6 from deep, but Russell connected on just two of his nine shots to finish with four points. Had he had a typical Russell-type game, the Nets would not only have won this game, but they may have won going away.

Next up for the Bulls is a trip to Houston, which marks the beginning of their season-long six-game road trip. This trip will make or break the Bull's season, as they could put themselves in a position to wrap up a play-in berth when they return home.