Nets focused on shoring up defense in clash vs. Bulls

The Brooklyn Nets struggled defensively during their just-concluded three-game losing streak.

Even if one of their better defensive showings occurred against a short-handed opponent on Saturday, the Nets will look to follow it up on Sunday night when they host the struggling Chicago Bulls.

The Nets are playing their second back-to-back set this season and are coming off a 112-97 win over the Miami Heat, who held out stars Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler due to lingering injuries. After allowing 390 points and 49 3s in losses to Miami, Philadelphia and Atlanta, the Nets led virtually the entire way while permitting under 100 points for the third time this season.

Brooklyn posted its second-most lopsided margin of victory thanks to its defense allowing 43.7 percent shooting while forcing a season-best 17 turnovers.

"Just give our guys credit for continuing to work at (forcing turnovers)," Brooklyn coach Jacque Vaughn said. "This is something new, elevated risk at certain times throughout the course of the game and possessions. Tonight, we got rewarded for it."

The Nets also countered their effective defense by seeing all five starters reach double figures. Mikal Bridges scored 24 points, Cameron Johnson added 19 for his second-highest point total this season while Dorian Finney-Smith contributed 16.

"You got to believe and have a certain level of will to be successful in this league," said Spencer Dinwiddie, who finished with 14 points and 11 assists. "So breaking the losing streak, understanding we took a couple tough losses, being a little resilient and hopefully getting some of that momentum going forward."

The Nets earned a 109-107 win in Chicago during an in-season tournament game on Nov. 3. Since then, little has gone right for the Bulls.

Chicago heads to Brooklyn on its third three-game losing streak of the season and six losses in its past seven games. The team's only win in that span was a 102-97 home win over Miami on Nov. 18 when it stormed back from a 21-point deficit.

The Bulls dropped a 121-108 decision at Toronto on Friday. They allowed the Raptors to shoot a robust 53.0 percent from the floor.

Zach LaVine scored 36 points after sitting out Wednesday's loss in Oklahoma City because of a sore right foot. DeMar DeRozan added 19 points before getting ejected in the second half.

"We can go out there and compete against anybody, we can beat anybody," DeRozan told reporters at Chicago's practice on Saturday. "It's just a matter of from tip-ball to the end, playing the right way, putting an IQ into the game, understand what we've got to do and how hard we've got to do it."

The Bulls also lost Alex Caruso when his foot got stepped on in the third quarter. Caruso did not practice Saturday and is questionable for Sunday.

--Field Level Media