Bulls 102, Nets 84
Pau Gasol collected 25 points and 13 rebounds for his ninth double-double as Chicago concluded its seven-game road swing with a comfortable win over Brooklyn.
Jimmy Butler scored a game-high 26 points - including 11 from the free-throw line - and Derrick Rose added 14 points for the Bulls, who overcame 20 turnovers. Nikola Mirotic tallied 12 points and Aaron Brooks chipped in with 11 for Chicago, which won the battle of the boards 50-34.
Bojan Bogdanovic contributed 13 points and five rebounds for the Nets, who shot 37.2 percent from the field. Jarrett Jack added 12 points off the bench while Kevin Garnett grabbed seven rebounds for Brooklyn, which went 2-of-14 from 3-point land.
Butler went above the rim to put home a pass from Brooks that put the Bulls on top 35-26, and he led all scorers with 16 points in the first half as Chicago settled for a 47-42 advantage at intermission. Gasol knocked down a jumper to give the Bulls their first double-digit lead of the game at 56-46 and Rose nailed a 3-pointer to push the margin to 13 midway through the third quarter.
Chicago led by as many as 15 before Deron Williams sank a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 72-63 late in the third stanza. Brooks converted a three-point play to put the Bulls ahead 84-68 and Butler hit a jumper to push the margin to 92-73 as they went on to improve to 9-3 on the road.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Bulls have beaten the Nets in 10 of the last 13 meetings between the teams. … Chicago PF Taj Gibson missed his third straight game with an ankle injury. … Brooklyn has been held to less than 100 points in seven of its last eight games.