Bulls 90, Nets 82
Luol Deng had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Carlos Boozer added 13 points and 12 rebounds as Chicago dispatched host Brooklyn to even up the Eastern Conference first-round series.
Kirk Hinrich scored 13 points and Joakim Noah had 11 points and 10 rebounds as the Bulls rebounded from a Game 1 loss and held the Nets to 35.4 percent shooting from the field. Game 3 is Thursday in Chicago.
Brook Lopez scored 21 points and Joe Johnson added 17 for Brooklyn. Deron Williams had 10 assists, but was held to eight points of 1-of-9 shooting after scoring 22 points in Saturday’s opener.
Chicago led 47-46 at halftime and dominated the third quarter en route to taking a 12-point lead into the final stanza. Brooklyn was held to 2-of-19 shooting in the third, missing its last 10 shots while being outscored 22-11.
The Nets’ slump extended to 11 straight misses before it concluded and they soon rattled off nine straight points to pull within 73-68 with 7:54 remaining. Johnson’s 3-pointer cut Chicago’s lead to 80-76 with 4:11 left before the Bulls used a 7-2 run to get the lead back to nine on a free throw by Noah with 50.2 seconds to play.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Chicago had a 42-30 edge per points in the paint. … Williams, Johnson and F Gerald Wallace were a combined 8-for-34 from the field. … Backup PG Nate Robinson also reached double figures for the Bulls with 11 points.