The Brooklyn Nets visited United Center to take on the Chicago Bulls for the fourth and final time this season and lost 131-87. Chicago wins the regular-season series 3-1.
For the Nets, Cam Thomas had 22 points and two assists while Seth Curry had 19 points and three assists. Mikal Bridges had 13 points and Cameron Johnson had 10 points.
For the Bulls, Zach LaVine had 32 points and six rebounds while DeMar DeRozan had 17 points and four assists. Patrick Williams had 17 points and Nikola Vucevic had 13 points.
In the first half, the Nets had about as rough of a half that the NBA has seen this season by scoring only 29 points on 24.4% shooting from the field. It took Brooklyn almost four minutes to score its first basket: a lob from Spencer Dinwiddie to Nic Claxton. The Bulls finished the first half on a 35-11 run.
In the second half, it was more of the same for both teams. The Nets couldn’t buy a bucket and the Bulls couldn’t miss. For the game, Brooklyn shot 37% from the field while Chicago shot 56.8%. The Bulls out-rebounded the Nets 57-31 and they out-scored Brooklyn in the paint 62-22. Not much else can be said about how bad this loss was for the Nets.
Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to the Nets’ embarrassing loss:
Not so fun fact. The Nets first half total — 29 points — was their worst since April 26, 2012 which was the franchise’s last game in New Jersey when they scored 27. .
— NetsDaily (@NetsDaily) February 25, 2023
Final: Bulls beat the Nets 131-87. That’s a 44-point blowout, topping the 43-point loss in Boston on Feb. 1. Cam Thomas had a team-high 22 points in the loss. Nets’ lead over the Knicks for the fifth seed is down to a game.
— Alex Schiffer (@Alex__Schiffer) February 25, 2023
Final: Bulls 131, Nets 87
Brooklyn shoots 37% from the field and 27% from three in the worst loss of the season. Not the start you’d hope for coming out of the break.
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) February 25, 2023
Jacque Vaughn taking longer than usual to come out for his postgame press conference.
— Alex Schiffer (@Alex__Schiffer) February 25, 2023
Jacque Vaughn said he thought the Nets had some good looks early in the game, just couldn’t get them to fall. Understands it’s harder to play defense when shots aren’t falling.
— Alex Schiffer (@Alex__Schiffer) February 25, 2023
Jacque Vaughn: “I’m going to keep preaching that this kind of effort is unacceptable.”
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) February 25, 2023
Jacque Vaughn: “You cannot have nights like this where you play this bad.” #Nets
— Kristian Winfield (@Krisplashed) February 25, 2023