Bulls 84, Nets 73
Derrick Rose scored 21 points and Luol Deng added 19 as the Chicago Bulls beat the host New Jersey Nets 84-73 on Thursday.
Omer Asik added 11 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for Chicago (49-18), which moved a half-game ahead of the Boston Celtics in the race for the Eastern Conference’s top seed.
Brook Lopez scored 22 points for New Jersey (22-44), which had its five-game winning streak snapped.
Deng broke a tie with a 19-footer to give the Bulls a 71-69 lead with 3:57 remaining. Rose added a layup 40 seconds later and the Bulls took a 10-point lead on Kurt Thomas’ basket with one minute left.
Chicago led by 10 after three quarters but New Jersey started the final period with a 9-2 run to move within 62-59 on Sasha Vujacic’s 3-point basket with 8:01 to play. The Nets caught the Bulls at 65 on Lopez’s basket with 5:50 left.
Kris Humphries added 13 points and 16 rebounds for the Nets, while Vujacic also scored 13 points.