The Brooklyn Nets were able to maintain their seven-game winning streak, defeating the league-worst Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night.
- Brooklyn Nets 96 (15-18)
- Chicago Bulls 93 (7-25)
- NBA, Final, Box Score
- United Center, Chicago, Illinois
A mere 24 hours after defeating LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, the Brooklyn Nets headed to Chicago to face a youthful Bulls squad.
Chicago, now at 7-25, came into the head-to-head battle with the worst record in the league. To make matters worse, their star shooting guard, Zach Lavine, was unavailable due to a severe ankle sprain. Given that Chicago was missing LaVine and his 23.8 points per game, this seemed like an easy win for the Barclays bunch.
Here’s the thing: Brooklyn is on an incredibly tough stretch of their schedule. As of tonight, the Nets were playing their fourth game in six days since Friday. Not to mention, their game against the Lakers was a wire-to-wire nailbiter. This had the makings of potentially turning into a trap game; a schedule loss.
And boy, the Nets showed some wear and tear tonight. The pace was a painstakingly slow jog, as both teams struggled to get into any type of rhythm. By the end of the third quarter, the two teams were tied at only 71 each.
Chicago was led by New London native, Kris Dunn, who dropped 24 points and six assists on the night.
Brooklyn, on the other hand, was commanded by the recently re-signed Spencer Dinwiddie. Dinwiddie came off the bench and dropped 27 points on a very efficient 8-of-15 shooting.
Dinwiddie did most of his work in the fourth quarter, scoring 11 points in the final period. He used his elite downhill game to get the Nets out of the mud multiple times.
Dinwiddie with the drive and the deuce, but the Nets’ six-game winning streak is coming down to the wire in the Windy City! #NETSonYES live stream: https://t.co/oJNpF6us4G pic.twitter.com/sXjnoN7G1w
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) December 20, 2018
His best play of the night came in the final seconds of the fourth quarter. Not normally known for his defense, it was Dinwiddie who poked the ball free from Justin Holiday of the Bulls to ice the game.
.@SDinwiddie_25: CLUTCH DEFENDER pic.twitter.com/yDfKAKhp1w
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) December 20, 2018
Jarrett Allen was also impressive for the Nets, ripping down a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. He also had two huge highlight dunks. (Jarrett’s been all over SportsCenter for the past day and a half).
“As The Fro flies!”@_bigjayy_ | #WeGoHard pic.twitter.com/2Z3aldGjqO
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) December 20, 2018
THROW IT DOWN @_bigjayy_ pic.twitter.com/qWhTKCZhwd
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) December 20, 2018
The Nets head back to Barclays to meet with the fourth-seeded Pacers for another big test. It won’t be easy to make it to eight-straight victories, but the Pacers are also playing through a grueling segment of their schedule. Friday will mark their third game in four nights and second straight game on the road.
