The Nets stayed winless without Michael Porter Jr.

And this time they didn’t even show any fight in his absence.

With their star being rested, the Nets got embarrassed 124-102 by the Bulls on Sunday night before 19,753 at United Center.

It was a galling enough non-effort that head coach Jordi Fernández pulled four of his five starters to open the second half, sparing only Nic Claxton.

The loss was hardly shocking. The Nets (12-28) fell to a winless 0-8 without Porter, and had been outscored by 15.3 in those defeats. They were even worse Sunday.

Brooklyn Nets’ Egor Demin (8) goes up for a shot against Chicago Bulls’ Nikola Vucevic (9) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, in Chicago. AP

Predictably, the Nets attack was colder than the sub-freezing Chicago weather outside. They got 16 points from rookie Nolan Traore, but without Porter’s floor spacing and offensive punch, they couldn’t keep pace with the Bulls and Coby White (24 points).

They were far worse on the other end of the floor.

The Nets defense got carved up, the 41 assists they watched Chicago hand out by far the most they’d allowed all season. The Nets conceded 52.1 percent shooting, including 69.6 percent in a first quarter that saw them dig themselves into a 19-point hole.

They didn’t have the fight to dig their way out.

After leading by 20 in the fourth quarter Friday against these same Bulls, the Nets had to hold on for dear life to pull out a victory at Barclays Center. But with the tables turned two nights later in Chicago, the Nets didn’t acquit themselves as well as the Bulls had a game earlier.

Rookie Danny Wolf and Terance Mann had gotten the nod for the unavailable Porter and Drake Powell, but both got benched coming out of the half — along with starters Egor Demin and Noah Clowney.

Danny Wolf of the Brooklyn Nets drives to the basket as Issac Okoro of the Chicago Bulls plays defense during the game on January 18, 2026 at United Center in Chicago, Illinois. NBAE via Getty Images

Brooklyn’s silver lining was helping themselves in the tanking race. They moved a game clear of idle sixth-place Utah in the lottery standings, and clawed within a game of fourth-place Sacramento pending the Kings’ game against visiting Portland later on Sunday night.

The Nets capitulated after giving up an 18-3 first-quarter run.

They trailed just 21-17 after Cam Thomas had found Day’Ron Sharpe for a layup with 4:50 left in the first quarter. But they let the Bulls hit eight of their next nine shots, and went just 1-7 themselves.

An Ayo Dosunmu 3-pointer started the run, and a Tre Jones layup ended it, leaving the Nets down 39-20 with just :25.6 left in the first.

Cam Thomas of the Brooklyn Nets drives to the basket during the game against the Chicago Bulls on January 18, 2026 at United Center in Chicago, Illinois. NBAE via Getty Images

The deficit swelled to 20 in the second quarter, and Fernandez had seen enough by halftime. He pulled the starters and opened the second with Thomas, Jalen Wilson, Tyrese Martin and Traore, sparing only Claxton.

But the deficit still reached 103-76 with 8:29 left on a Dosunmu 3-pointer.

Clowney ended up shooting 3-11 and finished minus-18.

Traore had 16 points on 4-of-5 shooting from deep, both career-highs. Thomas handed out ten assists to tie his career-high, set ironically last season against these same Bulls in March before getting shut down with a hamstring injury. But he shot just 1-of-6 on a night the Nets needed his scoring to pick up the slack for a missing Porter.