The Nets stayed winless without Michael Porter Jr., and this time they didn\u2019t even show any fight in his absence.<\/p>\n
With their star being rested, the Nets got embarrassed 124-102 by the Bulls before 19,753 at United Center.<\/p>\n
It was a non-effort so galling that Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez yanked four of his five starters to open the second half, sparing only Nic Claxton.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur energy was off from the jump and they exploited us defensively,\u201d Claxton admitted. \u201cWhen our energy isn\u2019t right, no coverage will work.\u201d<\/p>\n
And none of them worked Sunday.<\/p>\n
The Nets (12-28) fell behind by 27 and got routed.<\/p>\n
Brooklyn Nets\u2019 Egor Demin (8) goes up for a shot against Chicago Bulls\u2019 Nikola Vucevic (9) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, in Chicago. AP<\/p>\n
\u201c[We were] lacking on the defense, especially in the first half,\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez said. \u201c[To allow] 70 points in the first half, that\u2019s not good enough. I don\u2019t think it was good either in the second, but I don\u2019t think we played hard consistently. We tried at times [but] our purpose was not there. That\u2019s the battle we need to fight first, is to do everything as hard as you can to the best of your abilities, then put your mind on what you\u2019re trying to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything has to be done with purpose. You cannot just run around crazy and that\u2019s it. So, that\u2019s very important. No matter who we have out there \u2026 I believe we can go out, compete and win. And [Sunday] we didn\u2019t compete to the best of our ability. So, I\u2019m the first one to blame. Watch film [Monday], try to compete better.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lack of competitiveness is what was most vexing.<\/p>\n
The loss itself was hardly shocking. The Nets are 0-8 without Porter, and have been outscored by 16.1 in those defeats. But Sunday\u2019s result was vexing because of their fight, or lack thereof.<\/p>\n
None scored more than rookie Nolan Traore\u2019s career-high 16 points, 10 of those in a garbage-time fourth quarter where Brooklyn trailed by 24 going in. The offense without Porter sputtered. But the other end was far worse.<\/p>\n
The Nets defense got carved up, allowing a season-worst 41 assists on 49 Bulls baskets. They conceded 52.1 percent shooting, including 69.6 percent in a first quarter that saw them dig themselves into a 19-point hole.<\/p>\n
Danny Wolf of the Brooklyn Nets drives to the basket as Issac Okoro of the Chicago Bulls plays defense during the game on January 18, 2026 at United Center in Chicago, Illinois. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
The Nets capitulated after giving up an 18-3 run. They trailed just 21-17 after Cam Thomas (career-high tying 10 assists) found Day\u2019Ron Sharpe for a layup. But they let the Bulls hit eight of their next nine shots, a Tre Jones layup leaving the Nets down 39-20 with 25.6 seconds left in the first.<\/p>\n
Fern\u00e1ndez had seen enough, pulling starters Danny Wolf, Terance Mann, Egor D\u00ebmin and Noah Clowney at halftime. He opened the third quarter with Traore, Thomas, Jalen Wilson and Tyrese Martin playing alongside Claxton.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, it can be rough, but it\u2019s a part of the game. You\u2019ve got to be able to adjust. That\u2019s what we\u2019re dealing with this year. You\u2019ve got to be ready for whatever lineups and our energy needs to be consistent,\u201d Claxton said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought that group with Nic had good energy. They played the right way,\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez said. \u201cAnd I didn\u2019t feel that energy from the other group. Still, everybody played, just shuffling around and trying to find a way for our guys to react, but didn\u2019t really happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cam Thomas of the Brooklyn Nets drives to the basket during the game against the Chicago Bulls on January 18, 2026 at United Center in Chicago, Illinois. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
The deficit still reached 103-76 with 8:29 left on a 3 by Ayo Dosunmu (19 points).<\/p>\n
Coby White led the Bulls with a game-high 24.<\/p>\n
While Traore had 16 points on 4-for-5 shooting from deep, both career-highs, the Nets offense sputtered without Porter.<\/p>\n
Thomas\u2019 10 assists tied a career-high, set last season against these same Bulls in March, but he had just three points on 1-for-6 shooting. Clowney shot 3-for-11 and finished minus-18.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey just kept playing harder than us,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to just turn the page quick, have short-term memory. We know we\u2019ve got to come out prepared to play,\u201d Claxton said of Monday\u2019s games against visiting Phoenix. \u201cOur process just wasn\u2019t right. We\u2019ve just got to be better all around.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Nets are fifth in the lottery odds, a game ahead of Utah and one behind Sacramento pending the Kings\u2019 tilt versus visiting Portland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Nets stayed winless without Michael Porter Jr., and this time they didn\u2019t even show any fight in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546119,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3771],"tags":[7,247,920,919,329,3824,562,6,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-546118","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bulls","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-brooklyn-nets","10":"tag-bulls","11":"tag-chicago","12":"tag-chicago-bulls","13":"tag-chicagobulls","14":"tag-michael-porter-jr","15":"tag-nba","16":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115920088921128365","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}