Bulls 118, Nets 102
CHICAGO -- Doug McDermott scored 25 points off the bench and the Chicago Bulls pulled away for a 118-102 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday.
Jimmy Butler scored 22 points and dished seven assists for the Bulls. Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson were among four Bulls players who added 12 points apiece. Chicago (34-33) earned its second win in the past three games and improved to 22-12 at home.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored a game-high 26 points to lead the Nets. Thaddeus Young scored 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Brooklyn (19-49) lost for the fifth time in its past six games.
Chicago shot 48.9 percent from the field. Brooklyn shot 46.5 percent.
A 3-pointer by Chris McCullough pulled the Nets within 87-83 early in the fourth quarter. The Bulls rallied with a 10-4 run to regain a double-digit lead with 6:29 to go. Bobby Portis punctuated the run with a two-handed slam dunk on a feed from Rose, who finished five assists. McDermott and Rose added back-to-back 3-pointers as the Bulls increased their lead in the final minutes.
The Bulls held on to a 79-74 lead at the end of the third quarter. Brooklyn scored 37 points in the third quarter, matching its total from the first half. Bogdanovic scored 11 points to lead the Nets on a 20-10 run midway through the third quarter.
Chicago led by as many as 24 points in the first half and established a 55-37 advantage at the break. Mike Dunleavy heaved an alley-oop pass to Butler for a two-handed slam dunk that gave Chicago a 49-25 lead with 3:55 remaining in the second quarter. Brooklyn responded with a 10-2 run, including a three-point play by Brook Lopez as he drove to the rim for a layup plus a free throw.
An 11-0 run boosted Chicago to a 24-14 lead after the first quarter. McDermott scored seven points during the run, including a 3-pointer from the left wing with 6.8 seconds remaining in the quarter.
Bulls guard E'Twaun Moore left the game in the first quarter after injuring his left hamstring.
NOTES: Bulls C Pau Gasol missed his third straight game because of swelling in his right knee. Coach Fred Hoiberg said Gasol likely will miss at least a few more games because of the injury. Gasol, 35, is averaging 17 points and 11.1 rebounds this season. ... Brooklyn signed C Henry Sims to a 10-day contract before Thursday's game. Sims, 25, averaged 7.8 points and 4.9 rebounds during parts of three seasons with New Orleans, Cleveland and Philadelphia. ... Bulls G Derrick Rose made his second straight start after missing the previous two games because of a left adductor strain. ... Nets G Sergey Karasev made his first start of the season. He started 16 games for Brooklyn in 2014-15.