National Basketball Association
Brooklyn 105, Chicago 91
When: 1:00 PM ET, Saturday, May 15, 2021
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
Officials: #13 Ashley Moyer-Gleich, #15 Zach Zarba, #31 Scott Wall
Attendance: 1773

Kyrie Irving scored 22 points as the Brooklyn Nets got a significant contribution from their reserves and pulled away down the stretch for a 105-91 victory over the visiting Chicago Bulls on Saturday afternoon in New York.

The Nets (47-24) won their fourth straight and remained one game ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks in the race for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. Milwaukee defeated Miami on Saturday night and holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Brooklyn.

The game marked the first time Brooklyn's three stars of Irving, James Harden and Kevin Durant played in the same game since Feb. 13 at Golden State. It was only the eighth time they played together this season and the trio were on the floor together for about 16 minutes.

Irving was the most effective of Brooklyn's trio by scoring 20 points in the first half when the Nets shook off an early 12-point deficit. Durant finished with 12 on 4 of 17 from the floor while collecting nine rebounds and six assists, and Harden had five points, seven assists and five rebounds in 25 minutes.

Jeff Green added 19 points as Brooklyn got 48 points from its reserves. Bruce Brown chipped in 16 points and 12 rebounds as the Nets shot 47.1 percent and outscored the Bulls 105-79 after allowing the game's first 12 points.

Chicago (30-41) was eliminated from postseason contention Friday night when the Washington Wizards beat the Cleveland Cavaliers so it held out Zach LaVine (knee soreness). Rookie Patrick Williams scored a career-high 24 points and former Net Thaddeus Young added 19 as the Bulls shot 34.7 percent and misfired on 30 of 41 3-point tries.

After Chicago's opening 12-0 run, the Nets outscored the Bulls 28-17 the rest of the quarter and were within 29-28. Chicago held its last lead when Javonte Green's free throw made it 41-40 with 7:58 remaining but Brooklyn outscored the Bulls 21-10 the rest of the half for a 61-51 lead at intermission.

Brooklyn allowed the Bulls to hang around throughout the third quarter and held a 79-71 lead into the fourth quarter. Chicago ripped off eight straight points to get within 85-81 on Young's finger roll with 8:47 remaining but Jeff Green hit two 3-pointers and Landry Shamet capped a 15-2 run with a 3-pointer at the 5:27 mark to make it 100-83.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Chicago   Brooklyn
Patrick Williams 24 Scoring Kyrie Irving 22
Coby White 6 Assists James Harden 7
Thaddeus Young 13 Rebounds Bruce Brown 12
Javonte Green 4 Free Throws Made Kevin Durant 3
Patrick Williams 2 Steals Bruce Brown 2
Garrett Temple 2 Blocks Nicolas Claxton 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Chicago 91 34.7 11-41 12-17 24 52 4 7 9
Brooklyn 105 47.1 14-34 9-15 26 52 8 6 10
Upcoming Games
  • Brooklyn will play their next game at home against Cleveland. The Nets have a W/L % of .681 after a win and .625 after a loss.
  • Chicago will play their next game at home against Milwaukee. The Bulls have a W/L % of .419 after a win and .425 after a loss.