Bulls 79, Nets 76: Carlos Boozer had 22 points and 16 rebounds and Luol Deng added 21 and 10 as host Chicago defeated Brooklyn to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series.

Kirk Hinrich added 12 points and the Bulls held off a fierce late-game rush by the Nets. Game 4 is Saturday in Chicago.

Brook Lopez had 22 points, nine rebounds and seven blocked shots and Deron Williams added 18 points for Brooklyn. The Nets trailed by 14 with less than six minutes left and had a chance to force overtime but C.J. Watson air-balled a 3-pointer from the left corner as time expired.

Chicago led 71-54 after Nate Robinson’s 3-pointer with 9:33 to go before Brooklyn started clicking. A basket by Lopez capped a 12-1 surge as the Nets pulled within 77-74 with 14.4 seconds left.

Brooklyn dominated the first 5 1/2 minutes while taking a 17-5 lead before missing 14 straight shots as Chicago scored 16 consecutive points to take a four-point lead early in the second quarter. The Bulls led by as many as 12 in the stanza en route to a 41-34 halftime lead.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Both teams shot less than 40 percent – Chicago finished at 39.7 and Brooklyn at 34.6 … The Nets were 1-for-25 from the field during a 13 1/2-minute span of the first half. … Brooklyn G Joe Johnson played through a foot injury and scored 15 points.