Michael Porter Jr. delivers victory for Nets over Bulls 112-109

The Brooklyn Nets ended their five-game losing streak by defeating the Chicago Bulls 112-109 Friday night in New York. Michael Porter Jr. was the hero of this game, scoring the decisive basket with 5.4 seconds remaining, after Brooklyn had squandered a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Porter Jr. and Clowney lead the Nets’ offense

Porter Jr. finished the game with 26 points, while Noah Clowney recorded a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Day’Ron Sharpe added 14 points and rookie Danny Wolf contributed 13 points for the Nets. For Chicago, Nikola Vucevic led his team with 19 points and Ayo Dosunmu scored 18 points in this first game of a home-and-home series between the two teams.

The Nets had taken control convincingly, building their second-largest halftime lead of the season at 17 points thanks to a 15-0 run in the second quarter. Coach Jordi Fernandez believed his team could have won all three games of their recent road trip.

A thrilling finish after a big lead

Cam Thomas’s 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter had extended the lead to 92-72, but the Bulls responded by scoring the next 11 points. Despite another 3-pointer from Thomas to stop that run, Brooklyn led by only six points with less than a minute remaining.

Chicago then scored seven consecutive points to take the lead 109-108 on a basket by Tre Jones with 11.4 seconds left. The Nets then executed a play to get Porter Jr. close to the basket, and he gave his team the lead back. Rookie Drake Powell then intercepted Chicago’s inbound pass, and Clowney’s two free throws made it 112-109 before Vucevic missed a rushed 3-pointer.

The two teams will meet again Sunday in Chicago for the second game of this series.