NBA

Chicago Bulls at Brooklyn Nets

· National Basketball Association
3-3, 2-2 Away
Final
112 - 120

3-3, 2-1 Home

Can Thomas scores 32 points in the Nets' 120-112 victory over the Bulls

Ben Simmons shows off vision with half-court dime

Thomas scored eight straight points to give the Nets a 118-109 lead with 1:52 left.

Cam Johnson added 14 points in Brooklyn's second straight victory. Nic Claxton and Keon Johnson each had 12 points, and Ben Simmons had eight points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.

Nikola Vucevic led Chicago with 28 points on 10-of-11 shooting and had 11 rebounds. Zach LaVine and Coby White each added 21 points, with White going 5 of 9 from 3-point range.

Takeaways Bulls: Chicago trailed by 10 in the third quarter with 9:35 minutes remaining before outscoring the Nets 30-17, thanks to 13 points from Vucevic.

Nets: Thomas entered the day as the NBA’s leader in fourth-quarter points with an average of 12.2.

Key moment Brooklyn led by a point with 4:03 left when Thomas outscored the Bulls 10-2 to extend the lead 118-109. Thomas hit a pair of free throws and followed LaVine’s layup with a layup of his own to make 112-109. He then hit a 3-pointer on Brooklyn’s following possession off Ayo Dosunmu's miss. Chicago missed its next three shots as Thomas hit a 3 to seal.

Key stat Vucevic flirted with perfections, hitting his first 10 shots from the field. His only miss was a 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter.

Up next The Nets host Detroit on Sunday, while the Bulls return home to face Utah on Monday night.

Regular Season Series

BKN leads series 1-0

Recent Plays

4th 0.0 End of Game 112 - 120
4th 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 112 - 120
4th 10.1 shot clock turnover 112 - 120
4th 28.2 Talen Horton-Tucker enters the game for Nikola Vucevic 112 - 120
4th 28.2 Ayo Dosunmu enters the game for Zach LaVine 112 - 120

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/chi.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCHI https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/bkn.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originBKN
38-88 FG 49-94
43 Field Goal % 52
17-44 3PT 11-36
39 Three Point % 31
19-24 FT 11-13
79 Free Throw % 85
44 Rebounds 46
10 Offensive Rebounds 9
34 Defensive Rebounds 37
24 Assists 34
5 Steals 11
3 Blocks 6
16 Turnovers 10
0 Team Turnovers 1
16 Total Turnovers 11
0 Technical Fouls 0
0 Total Technical Fouls 0
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
13 Points Conceded Off Turnovers 14
10 Fast Break Points 19
40 Points in Paint 66
15 Fouls 20
4 Largest Lead 17
Brooklyn Nets Brooklyn Nets Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Drake Powell, G Out Dec 22
Haywood Highsmith, F Out Dec 18
Chicago Bulls Chicago Bulls Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Patrick Williams, F Day-To-Day Dec 26
Noa Essengue, F Out Dec 3

Game Information

Barclays Center

Location: Brooklyn, NY
Attendance: 17,977 · Capacity:

2025-26 Central Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Detroit 24 6 .800 - W3
Cleveland 17 15 .531 8 L1
Chicago 14 15 .483 9.5 W4
Milwaukee 12 18 .400 12 W1
Indiana 6 24 .200 18 L6

2025-26 Atlantic Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
New York 21 9 .700 - W1
Boston 18 11 .621 2.5 W3
Toronto 18 13 .581 3.5 W1
Philadelphia 16 12 .571 4 L1
Brooklyn 9 19 .321 11 W2
Full Standings

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