Spencer Dinwiddie leads all scorers and cements Nets’ lead over the Bulls with two late free-throws, Caris LeVert and Joe Harris each score more than 20 points

The Brooklyn Nets have entered a new era.

In case you missed it, Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson and Brooklyn Nets general manager, Sean Marks, mutually agreed that Atkinson would move on. Assistant Coach, Jacque Vaughn, has been elevated to interim head coach. Under Coach Vaughn’s leadership, the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Chicago Bulls 110-107, and now Vaughn’s record is 1-0. With the win, the Nets’ win-loss record improved to 29-34, while the Bulls fell to 21-43 on the season with the loss to the Nets.

By The Numbers

Brooklyn shot .500 (32-of-64) from the field on Sunday and improved to 8-1 this season when shooting .500 or better from the field in a game. Meanwhile, the Chicago Bulls shot 42.4 percent (39-of-42)

From behind-the-arc, the Chicago Bulls edged the Brooklyn Nets on three-pointers; the Bulls made 12-of-34 vs. Brooklyn’s 11-of-30.

In the land of the free, Brooklyn shot .854 (35-of-41), which was a season-high number of free-throws for the Nets. They have now shot .850 or better from the free-throw line in 10 games this season. Chicago’s free-throw production of 17-of-25 (68 percent), was less than half of Brooklyn’s free-throw production (35-of-41).

Brooklyn outrebounded Chicago 50-31 (+19) on Sunday. Entering yesterday’s game, the Nets’ 48.5 rebounds per game ranked second in the league.

Considering the 28 turnovers made by the Brooklyn Nets versus the seven (7) made by the Chicago Bulls, luck was on the side of the Nets.

Coach Speak: Brooklyn Nets interim head coach Jacque Vaughn

Coach Vaughn was probably sweating a bit on the bench when in the closing seconds the Bulls’ Otto Porter Jr. made it a one-point game particularly with the 28 turnovers made by the Nets.

And, the number of turnovers made by the Nets was a question put before its new coach.

“Not completely sure – we even ended up changing the basketball throughout the course of the game, which doesn’t happen too often,” responded Nets interim head coach, Jacque Vaughn. “We complained that it was a little bit too slippery, and Chicago did too, and they (the referees) changed the ball. I think that was the first seven (turnovers). The other 21, we’ll have to look at tomorrow. But overall, they’re an aggressive team and they’ve always forced you to not be casual – and I think we were casual at times with the basketball. (A) good test for us, especially going out West.”

Despite the number of turnovers, the Nets won the first game under their new coach.

So, what was Coach Vaughn’s message to his team about the last 24 hours and pulling off a win against Chicago?

“Just glad for the guys that were able to get back on the floor, get back to what they enjoy doing, love doing – compete and playing the game of basketball,” said Coach Vaughn. “At the end of the day, that was the best part of getting together and competing today.”

“We have a road trip coming up,” Coach Vaughn continued. “Chicago gave us a little dose of aggressive teams and our ability to take care of the basketball on the road, take care of each other put us in a position to get some wins on the road.”

Brooklyn Nets Scoring Leaders

The Brooklyn Nets had five scoring leaders yesterday, players with scores of more than 10 points. Spencer Dinwiddie led all players with 24 points and six assists (both team highs), while shooting 4-of-9 from the field, 2-of-5 from 3-point range, and 14-of-15 from the free-throw line in 37 minutes. Dinwiddie’s 14 made free-throws matched a season-high, which was also done against Chicago on November 16, 2019. Caris LeVert scored 23 points and added six rebounds and five assists in 37 minutes; Joe Harris also scored 23 points (8-of-12 FG, 3-of-7 3FG, 4-of-4 FT) in 31 minutes versus the Bulls; DeAndre Jordan, with his fifth start of the season, tallied 11 points, a game-high 15 rebounds, four assists, and a game-high three blocks in 29 minutes, and; Jarrett Allen added 11 points and six rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench for Brooklyn.

This was the first time three Brooklyn Nets players scored more than 20 points in the same game since January 29, 2020, which was against the Detroit Pistons. They were: Spencer Dinwiddie, Kyrie Irving, and Taurean Prince.

Chicago Bulls Scoring Leaders

The Chicago Bulls had four scoring leaders and three of the four came off the bench: Otto Porter, Jr., Coby White, and Thaddeus Young.

Otto Porter, Jr. led all Bulls scorers with 23 points, four steals, and three rebounds in 25 minutes; Coby White recorded 23 points, eight assists, and three rebounds in 35 minutes; Thaddeus Young (a former Brooklyn Nets player) registered 17 points and five rebounds, and; Lauri Markkanen, a member of the starting five, chipped in 16 points and four assists in 26 minutes.

Coach Speak: Chicago Bulls head coach Jim Boylen

“I thought we battled the whole game,” said Chicago Bulls head coach Jim Boylen. “We were fighting uphill, but I thought our spirit was really good. I thought we had opportunities that were really good opportunities. I thought we left some money on the table in transition, but we kept playing, kept competing. Coby White, I thought, was terrific – 21 points, eight assists, and I think six rebounds. He was good. I thought Lauri Markkanen was active and moving around. Thaddeus Young kind of held it together for us there in the third quarter. A lot of good things. We made some big shots down the stretch too, to make it a one-possession game. We gave ourselves a chance but didn’t make enough plays at the end of the day.”

Up Next for the Chicago Bulls and the Brooklyn Nets

So, what’s next for the Chicago Bulls?

The Chicago Bulls will return home to Chicago to host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday, March 10, at 7 p.m. CT.

Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets have a four-game West Coast road trip:

• Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, March 10, 2020, at 10:30 p.m. ET
• Golden State Warriors on Thursday, March 12, 2020, at 10:30 p.m. ET
• Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, March 13, 2020, at 10:30 p.m. ET
• Sacramento Kings on Sunday, March 15, 2020, at 9:00 p.m. ET

The Brooklyn Nets will then return home to play the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Hopefully, the spread of the COVID-19 virus will have abated by then.

TIP-INS:

Spencer Dinwiddie has now scored 20-plus points in a single-season career-high 37 games this season in 63 games played for the Brooklyn Nets. He scored 20-plus points 18 times last season (in 68 games).

Since re-entering the Brooklyn Nets starting lineup on February 3, 2020, vs. Phoenix, Caris LeVert has averaged 24.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists in 32.8 minutes per contest for the Brooklyn Nets.

DeAndre Jordan recorded his 13th double-double of the season on Sunday and pulled down his eighth game of 15-plus rebounds this season.