Brooklyn @ Chicago preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 8, 2019 ) Chicago 125, Brooklyn 106

The road is not being kind to the Brooklyn Nets, who dropped three straight after winning the opener of their five-game trip. The Nets will try to bounce back from their lowest scoring performance when they finish out the trip by visiting the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.

Brooklyn picked off Portland to begin the excursion but was crushed at Phoenix on Sunday before dropping back-to-back high-altitude games at Utah and Denver, squandering a 16-point lead in the second half in Thursday's 101-93 loss to the Nuggets. The Nets scored 61 points in the first half against Denver but ran out of gas and slumped to 32 points after the break. The Bulls split their last four games and are coming off a 124-115 loss on Thursday at Milwaukee, but coach Jim Boylen appreciated how hard his team played down the stretch. "I thought we knuckled down and we fought back in the game, and that's something we haven't been doing a good job of, and I'm really happy with that," Boylen told reporters. "Something to talk about."

TV: 6 p.m. ET, NBATV, YES (Brooklyn), NBCS Chicago

ABOUT THE NETS (4-7): Superstar point guard Kyrie Irving averaged 31.9 points over the first eight games but slumped to 19.7 while shooting 37.9 percent from the floor, including 4-of-23 from beyond the arc, over the last three contests. Brooklyn is missing shooting guard Caris LeVert following thumb surgery and started Garrett Temple in the backcourt alongside Irving on Thursday. Temple managed seven points on 2-of-11 shooting and the Nets are considering giving sixth man Spence Dinwiddie more time in the backcourt with Irving.

ABOUT THE BULLS (4-8): Rookie point guard Coby White is igniting the team with his long-range prowess and went 6-of-13 from beyond the arc on Thursday after knocking down 7-of-11 against New York on Tuesday - all seven makes coming in the fourth quarter. White finished with a team-high 26 points off the bench on Thursday while guard Zach LaVine added 25 - the fourth time in seven games that he scored at least 25 points. "Obviously, it helps if you make shots, and we had guys that had it going," forward Lauri Markkanen told reporters after the latest setback. "Coby (White) played great again and Zach (LaVine) was his own self. They kept going and going good."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Bulls SF Otto Porter Jr. (foot) sat out the last three games and is day-to-day.

2. Nets C Jarrett Allen collected 17 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.

3. Brooklyn took three of the four meetings last season, including both games in Chicago.

PREDICTION: Bulls 120, Nets 106