On January 13, Beijing time, the NBA regular season, the Nets challenged the Bulls away. It was the third match between the two teams of the season and a showdown between the top two in the East, both of which ended with the Bulls winning. In this game, Harden returned after missing an injury, Irving came out with an injury, and the Nets Big Three ushered in the second fit of the season. After four quarters of the two teams' battles, the Nets managed to beat the Bulls 138-112 to avoid a losing streak.
The Nets' Big Three played well in this game, and the trio scored 61 points together. Durant, who had 27 points and nine assists, was the best player on the team and scored 17 points in the third quarter. Harden also played very well, he had 25 points, 6 rebounds and 16 assists, which contributed to the team's opening up the point difference. Although Irving only had 9 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, considering that he played with injuries, he played an important role in involving opponents on the court.
It was also the first time this season that the Nets had won a game against a team in the top 4 in the East and West. Previously, the Nets had played 8 times with the top 4 teams in the East and West, and the Nets seemed to be under a spell, a winless game, so it was also questioned by the outside world. The Nets have lost 5 of their last 7 games before this game and could fall out of the top 2 positions in the East at any time. Victory in this game was crucial for them, not only boosting morale, but also consolidating their position as No. 2 in the East and narrowing the distance from the top Bulls.
At the beginning of the first quarter, the two teams quickly entered a stale offensive and defensive duel, and the score continued to alternate. After a bit of entanglement, the Nets relied on Mills and Durant to score in the second half of the quarter, successfully opening up the point gap. The first quarter ended with the Nets leading the Bulls 38-31. In the second quarter, the Nets maintained a lead in the point difference. Lavin and DeRozan tried to fight back in the second half and managed to close the point gap. Half-time was ended by Love, with the Nets leading the Bulls 62-60
Easy side to fight again. At one point, the Bulls equalized, and Durant stepped forward to help the team gradually widen the score difference. The Nets' single quarter score of 39 to 19 successfully widened the point difference to more than 20 points, and the game gradually lost suspense. At the start of the final quarter, Harden gave consecutive assists to seal the win for the team. In the end, the Nets won a big win on the road.
According to the schedule, the Nets' next game will be back-to-back against the Thunder tomorrow morning Beijing time.
(Text/Yuwen Basketball)