It was neither perfect nor pretty, but it was enough to snap the longest losing skid in the NBA.
Barely.
The Nets threw away a 20-point fourth-quarter cushion and needed a last-ditch score by Michael Porter Jr. to pull out a 112-109 escape against Chicago before a sellout crowd of 17,548 at Barclays Center.
Michael Porter looks to keep the ball away from Jalen Smith during the second quarter of the Nets’ 112-109 win over the Bulls on Jan. 16, 2025 at Barclays Center. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
Porter had a game-high 26 points, including a go-ahead layup with 5.4 seconds left.
Then the Nets needed a late steal by rookie Drake Powell to turn Porter’s bucket into the winner, having turned what should have been a laugher into a nail-biter.
“The lesson is that there’s no safe lead in the NBA. Teams will always punch back,” coach Jordi Fernández said. “Give them credit. But at the end of the day, responding is important because when things go against you and then the other team takes the lead, it may seem like a big mountain in front of you. And the guys kept composure, scored when we needed to. Mike with a big bucket and then the stop.”
The Nets (12-27) came in having dropped a league-worst five straight and eight of nine.
They had been swept on a three-game road swing against teams that were a combined 39-70.
But after building a 92-72 cushion in the fourth quarter after rookie Nolan Traore (game-high seven assists) found Cam Thomas for a 3-pointer, and a 108-102 edge with a minute left, they had allowed seven unanswered points and coughed up the lead.
A bad Porter pass led to a Jalen Smith 3-pointer, and a bad Traore pass gave Isaac Okoro a breakaway dunk.
When Powell getting blocked by Nikola Vucevic (19 points, six assists, six rebounds), led to Tre Jones’ go-ahead layup with 11.4 seconds left, the Nets’ lead was gone.
Noah Clowney drives past Matas Buzelis during the first quarter of the Nets’ win over the Bulls. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
That was until Porter took it back. It was only the second time he had ever hit a go-ahead bucket with under 10 seconds left, after a 14-foot jumper for Denver with six seconds to play in a 122-120 win over Dallas on Nov. 10, 2024.
“I just need him to catch the ball. After that, he knows what he’s doing,” Fernández said. “He caught it close to the elbow. It was easy enough for him to use his size and finish. Very proud of him for how he executed. He was responsible. He played like the player that he is. We would have not won this game without Michael.”
Added Porter: “It was a play to give me that side on the pin down and give me the ball and try to make a play. I felt like I let the team down a little bit last game and, honestly, tonight with a late turnover. So I was pretty determined to try to get a good look off. This is how a losing team becomes a winning team.”
With shots like Porter’s. And plays like Powell’s.
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With starting point guard Josh Giddey out injured, the Bulls were going to inbound but called a timeout.
The Nets’ defense forced another timeout on an inbound attempt when the Bulls changed their intended play.
Powell stole Jones’ bad pass, and after a Chicago foul, Noah Clowney (23 points, 11 rebounds) sealed it at the free throw line.
“I’m just glad we finished out. It was good, but it shouldn’t have been that close, especially with the lead we had going into half, even the third quarter,” Clowney said.
“When shots stopped falling, we stopped getting what we wanted. We stopped getting back, and they were capitalizing every time. Just get back, play defense, regardless of shots falling or not.”
With the Nets having struggled on the glass, Nic Claxton had seven points, 14 rebounds and five assists while Day’Ron Sharpe added 14 points and six boards.
The Nets are now 1 ½ games behind fourth-place Sacramento in the lottery standings. They travel to Chicago on Sunday.
“We had to just stick with it,” Claxton said. “Really, we shouldn’t have been that close down the stretch. We got to be better, but at the end of the day, we got the win, that’s what matters.”