Saturday evening's early NBA action featured the Chicago Bulls visiting the Brooklyn Nets. The NBA game featured a team still contending for one of the low seeds in the Eastern Conference NBA playoff picture against a team at the bottom of the standings. However, Brooklyn was able to grab a much-needed win to spoil the return of Bulls star Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler's top scoring performance. Here's the latest on how the Nets got this surprise victory in Brooklyn.
Brooklyn's start & finish
In the first quarter, Brooklyn was able to outscore Chicago 32-25 to take control of the game.
Chicago was able to make a comeback over the next two quarters and finally overtook the home team with just under five minutes remaining in the third. Despite holding a seven-point lead heading into the final quarter, Brooklyn once again had a dominant performance outscoring Chicago 32-24 in the fourth.
Leading the way in today's game were unlikely heroes Caris Levert and Spencer Dinwiddie. Each player finished with 19 in today's victory while small forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 16 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double. The Nets managed to knock down 10 three-point shots and also connected on 19-of-24 free-throws. While they didn't outshoot the Bulls percentage-wise or out-rebound them, they managed to have four fewer turnovers in a surprising home win.
For the losing side, Jimmy Butler came up with 33 points to lead all scorers. Butler connected on 12-of-22 field goal attempts including a late three-pointer to make it a one-point loss. The Bulls All-Star forward also had seven rebounds and four assists. Teammate Dwyane Wade was back in action after being sidelined due to injury.
He started the game and put in 25 minutes on the court finishing with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting to go with seven rebounds, two assists, and a block. Robin Lopez and Jerami Grant both finished in double-digits for scoring as well in the losing effort.
NBA standings & what's next
With today's win, the Brooklyn Nets moved to 13-28 at home and 20-60 on the season.
The team is already well outside of the NBA Playoff picture and projected to get a top-three pick in June's NBA Draft. That pick will go to the Boston Celtics by default due to a trade several seasons ago. Next up, Brooklyn visits the Celtics in Boston on Monday at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
The Chicago Bulls fell to 39-41 on their season with just three games to go. They're still among the playoff teams if the season were to end today and would have the No. 8 seed. However, the Miami Heat are also contending for that spot and just a half game back from the Bulls. Next up, Chicago takes on Orlando on Monday night at home starting at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.