Michael Porter Jr. was out. Egor Dëmin was, too. For most of this season, that combination has spelled trouble for Brooklyn, but Monday felt different.
Behind forceful nights from Nic Claxton, who scored a career-high 28 points, and Noah Clowney, who added 22, and with three rookies taking full advantage of their minutes, the Nets found just enough offense to beat the Chicago Bulls 123-115 at Barclays Center. The win pushed Brooklyn to 15-37, gave it consecutive victories after a three-game skid and came on a night the team entered 0-6 without Dëmin.
It wasn’t pretty. It rarely is for this group. But they found a way.
Clowney provided the first jolt. He poured in 12 of Brooklyn’s 27 points in the opening quarter, knocking down four of his five shots and three of four from deep, a reminder of how impactful he can be on offense when the jumper is falling. Chicago answered, with Collin Sexton matching the 12-point outburst and getting enough help from Anfernee Simons and Jaden Ivey to grab a slim 31-27 edge.
The Nets needed another push. They got it from a rookie who had already brought the building to life once.
Drake Powell scored just two points in the first quarter, but they arrived violently, a Blake Griffin-esque right-handed slam over Patrick Williams in transition that cracked the game open emotionally. When Clowney sat, Powell kept attacking. He poured in nine points in the second, buying time until the starters returned with 5:07 left in the half and Brooklyn nursing a 43-41 lead.
Then Claxton took over.
Everything came at the rim. He stacked 10 points in the closing minutes of the half, powering a 17-13 burst that sent the Nets to the locker room up 60-54. His 15 points before the break were his most in any half this season and tied for the fifth-most in a half in his career.
He wasn’t done.
Claxton opened the third by soaring for a lob off Nolan Traoré’s ninth assist, then, moments later, buried just his third 3-pointer of the season to stretch the margin to 71-59. For a team often searching for oxygen without its primary scorers, it felt like a cushion. But it vanished quickly.
Brooklyn got careless, committing nine turnovers in the quarter. The Bulls turned them into seven points and lived at the foul line long enough to swing momentum. Chicago won the period 35-29, erasing the deficit and knotting the game at 89 entering the fourth. Lost in that was the fact the Nets shot 50% in the quarter and held the Bulls to 43.5%.
Claxton poured in eight more points in the final frame, fueling a 60% shooting effort down the stretch as Brooklyn won the period 34-26 to seal the victory.
The rookies were particularly impactful in this one. Traoré finished with 13 points and a career-high 13 assists in 32 minutes, the most by a Nets rookie since Terrence Williams had 14 in 2010, good for the first double-double of his career. Powell added 14 points and five rebounds in 23 minutes. Danny Wolf chipped in 13 points, six rebounds and two steals in his eighth start, while Ben Saraf handed out three assists in 13 minutes but went just 1-for-6 from the field.
Brooklyn survived the mistakes. It committed 20 turnovers overall but compensated by winning the paint 66-48 and owning transition 22-12. Imperfect, but it was enough.
Simons led Chicago with 23 points.
The Nets return to action Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers at Barclays Center in their final game before the All-Star break.
