Nets 96, Bulls 94
Sasha Vujacic laid in a missed alley-oop with 5.1 seconds remaining as the struggling New Jersey Nets posted a surprising 96-94 home victory over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday.
The win snapped a five-game losing streak for New Jersey and a five-game winning streak for Chicago.
The Nets opened a 13-point lead late in the third quarter and still held a 94-84 advantage with less than four minutes to go. But the tied the game 94-94 with a 10-1 run, sparked by six quick points from Derrick Rose and capped by two free throws from C.J. Watson with 11 seconds left.
On the next possession, Nets point guard Devin Harris threw an alley-oop for center Brook Lopez, who was coming off a back screen. But the pass was short and tipped into the hands of Vujacic, who put it in.
With the Bulls out of timeouts, Rose dribbled upcourt and forced a straight-away 3-pointer that missed everything.
Kris Humphries had a season-high 20 points and 11 rebounds while Harris had 18 and 11 assists and sparked the third-quarter surge for the Nets. He had four points and seven assists during a 28-14 spurt to open the period that gave the Nets with a 74-61 lead with 1:44 left.
Rose had 21 points but just one assist and Luol Deng added 15 for Chicago, which had won 14 of 16.