Tank-minded Brooklyn Nets fans were handed yet another discouraging opponent injury report from the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night. Josh Giddey — don’t snicker, he’s been their best player since All-Star Weekend, averaging 23/11/8 — was ruled out with a sprained ankle.

Just a fortnight ago, the Nets tied the Bulls (and Philadelphia 76ers) for 10th place in the East, the conference’s final Play-In Tournament spot. The teams have diverged since, with the Nets losing eight of nine and Chicago winning four of six, including three straight. Brooklyn has ping-pong balls, and the Bulls have the 10-seed.

Still, with Giddey out and all Nets besides Noah Clowney in, this one was destined to be a sweat. Particularly after Cam Thomas played the most complete, if not the best, half of his career…

It wasn’t a shot-making explosion, as Thomas shot just 4-of-9, but he made every correct read and put up 15/4/8 by the break. That’s right, he matched his career-high in assists in just one half of play, making the Bulls pay for their passive coverages.

“Yeah, I’m just reading what they’re doing,” said Thomas to YES Network’s Meghan Triplett at halftime. “They’re trying to load up on me when I start driving by defenders, they’re loading up. So it opens up wide-open cuts and wide-open threes for the guys.”

Said Head Coach Jordi Fernández: “That was the reason why we were so good offensively. And again, he’ll keep working, and he’ll be working on sustaining that.”

It was the other end on which Brooklyn struggled, taking only a 65-62 lead into the half. Some of it was some unfortunate shooting luck, the kind they’re due for after a stingy February. Patrick Williams made a couple above-the-break threes, and Julian Phillips and Zach Collins each added one, as Chicago shot 44.4% early.

As such, I felt pretty assured…

this smells a lot like a Nets win tonight. Getting much better shots for the most part

— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) March 14, 2025

I felt quite smart after the third quarter, which the Nets won 27-20. Tyrese Martin built upon a hot first half, continuing to score his way to 19/4/3 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-8 from deep. He carried a Brooklyn bench that was otherwise just fine, as Trendon Watford missed a few too many of his patented pop-shot floaters, but they took care of the ball and hit the glass, maintaining the ten-point lead the starters built…

For all the league-wide complaints of NBA hoops in March, often doomed by tired legs and lottery-focused organizations, this battle between teams a combined 32 games below .500 was a joy to watch. Low turnovers, plenty of high-quality shots (if not always from great shooters), and when they didn’t go in, each side attacked the offensive glass in response. It was truly well-played, and the Nets seemed poised to win, as Jordi Fernández put in a starter-heavy lineup to start the fourth quarter.

Four minutes later, the score was tied at 95.

Cam Thomas finished with 24/6/10, his first career double-double, on 8-of-23 shooting. Now, it wasn’t an exact replica of the loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, in which tunnel vision took over in the second half. He took some rough shots vs. Chicago that skewed overly aggressive, but more often, Brooklyn seemed unprepared for the Bulls throwing two defenders at him.

If there’s one critique of Thomas, aside from a couple of those shots, he didn’t attack Nikola Vučević enough, either trying to split screens or get around the edge.

Fernández had a simple explanation: “Running a little bit out of gas in the second half, probably a matter of being out for two months and trying to get him in playing shape. He’s gonna get there.”

But as Thomas slowed down, Brooklyn’s offense did the same. They shot just 4-of-20 from deep in the second half, and Fernández disliked the shot quality as well.

“We fell in love with the mid-range shot … just thinking about those 25 mid-range shots, I’m okay with like 12 to 14. But those should have been sprays for threes, and we were not willing to do it or shoot it.”

Chicago’s 3-point shooting fell off a cliff in the second half as well, but they played at a faster pace, closing the game in transition. Coby White (31/7/4) and Tre Jones (18/6/6) far outplayed Brooklyn’s backcourt in the fourth quarter, living in the paint.

Nic Claxton put up one of his better stat-line of the season, frequently blowing past Vučević en route to 18/14/5…

…but Brooklyn either needed some tough jumpers to fall down the stretch, or for Clax to cover for every mistake at the rim. That proved too tough an ask, and yet another double-digit lead was blown.

All’s well that ends well?

Final Score: Chicago Bulls 116, Brooklyn Nets 110

Milestone Watch

• Nic Claxton’s fifth rebound of the game was the 2,305th of his career, moving him past Sam Bowie (2,304) into 11th place in Nets NBA history in total rebounds. Next up: Jason Collins – (2,323).
• Claxton’s double-double was the 75th of his career, making him the 10th Net in the franchise’s NBA history to reach that mark.
• Cam Thomas, as mentioned, recorded his first double-double with those ten assists, after matching his career-high in the first half alone.
• Tyrese Martin scored 11 points in the first quarter, the highest scoring quarter of his career.

Standings Watch

Lucky #5. Almost home…

5️⃣ pic.twitter.com/gERAkeaTBK

— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) March 14, 2025

Nets Film Focus

Thanks to Brooklyn’s fantastic content team, another episode of Nets Film Focus dropped prior to Thursday’s action. If you wish to see a professionally edited explanation of what Brooklyn’s defense looks like at its best, which it was in February, look no further…

I talk about the Nets’ ball-pressure, their big men playing diverse coverages, and what all-out effort looks like on a possession-to-possession basis. Hey, the franchise should probably lose right now, in the interest of long-term success, but that doesn’t mean this team isn’t inspiring.

Next Up

A weekend back-to-back, both legs at Barclays Center, awaits the Nets. First, the Boston Celtics on Saturday evening, with an early tip-off scheduled for 6:00 p.m. ET.