Field Level Media
Mar 8, 2020
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 24 points as the Brooklyn Nets overcame a season-high 29 turnovers and held on for a 110-107 victory over the visiting Chicago Bulls on Sunday afternoon in the debut of interim coach Jacque Vaughn.
The Nets won consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 10-12 and posted their third win in four games a day after mutually parting ways with coach Kenny Atkinson, who was 118-190 in three-plus seasons at the helm.
Brooklyn won despite blowing most of a 13-point lead in the final three-plus minutes. A basket by Caris LeVert gave the Nets a 97-84 lead with 3:22 left but Chicago outscored Brooklyn 23-13 the rest of the way.
A layup by Lauri Markkanen made the Nets' lead 107-104 with 15 seconds remaining. The Nets then committed their 29th turnover when Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot stepped out of bounds but Coby White missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer from the top of key with 9.1 seconds remaining
Dinwiddie split a pair at the line for a 108-104 lead with 3.6 seconds left and Otto Porter Jr. hit an off-balance 3-pointer with five-tenths of a second to go. After the Nets called a timeout, Dinwiddie finally iced the win by hitting two free throws with four-tenths of a second remaining.
LeVert and Harris scored 23 points apiece as Brooklyn won despite finishing with its most turnovers since moving from New Jersey following the 2011-12 season. DeAndre Jordan moved into the starting lineup and contributed a double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds.
Brooklyn compensated for allowing 24 points off the giveaways by shooting 50 percent, including 36.7 percent (11 of 30) from 3-point range. The Nets also shot 85.4 percent (35 of 41) from the free-throw line and held a commanding 50-31 rebounding margin.
Porter led the Bulls with 23 points while White added 21. Thaddeus Young added 17 and Markkanen contributed 16 as Chicago shot 42.4 percent and lost despite committing 14 steals and only seven turnovers.
Chicago played its fourth straight game without leading scorer Zach LaVine (strained left quadricep).
The Nets opened a 72-59 lead on a hoop by Harris with 5:50 left in the third quarter, but Chicago began trapping the Nets and ended the period with an 11-5 spurt to cut the lead to 77-70 entering the fourth.
--Field Level Media