Nets Stomp Bulls in Rare Late Night Battle

NETS 138 - BULLS 112

Powered by big nights by Kevin Durant and James Harden, the Brooklyn Nets breezed by the Chicago Bulls Wednesday night in Chi-Town. Durant finished with 27 points on 7-for-10 shooting. 17 of those points came in the third quarter as the Nets started to pull away.

James Harden also had a big night for Brooklyn, dropping 25 points and 16 assists on Chicago, while Day'Ron Sharpe contributed 20, and Patty Mills came off the bench to post 21 points in the win. Kyrie Irving had a quiet night in his third game back with the team, scoring only nine points.

"We're trying to make no statements to the league," Durant said. "I mean, who cares what they think. We know what we bring to the table, and it's all about us. But I'm sure people were watching the game tonight."

With the game tied at 71, Durant hit a pair of free-throws to put Brooklyn back in front 73-71. They would never trail or be tied again. A layup by Day'Ron Sharp, and a three-pointer from Harden pushed the Nets out in front by seven points, 78-71 with 7:07 to go in the third. Nearly two minutes later, Harden hit another three pointer to jump start a 9-0 Nets run that was capped off by a three-ball by Patty Mills to give the Nets an 85-75 advantage.

Durant was a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe and hit an enormous three  with 1:43 to go in the quarter to push the Nets lead up to 20, 99-79 as the Nets capped off a 30-8 run to end the quarter.