Nets nearly set 3-point record in blowout win over Bulls
There was no way to skirt around the draft position strategy facing the Bulls on Saturday.
They started the night one game ahead of Brooklyn in the standings with two in a row against the Nets. So lose out and the Bulls would be certain to drop below Brooklyn, stay behind New York and finish with no worse than the league's seventh-worst record.
The corresponding strategy on Saturday seemed to be letting the Nets fire away from 3-point range with little defensive resistance. Brooklyn set a Bulls' opponent record with 24 baskets from 3-point range and rolled to a 124-96 win at the United Center.
"Tonight was obviously a debacle," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. "We were stuck in mud from the very beginning of that game. Right now, especially with that second group, we've got David (Nwaba) at the four, sometimes Justin (Holiday) at the four, so we're just a little discombobulated right now on that (defensive) end."
The previous mark for 3-pointers made against the Bulls was 20, set twice this season - by Houston on Jan. 8 and Denver on Mar. 21, both times at the UC. The Nets fell one short of the NBA record of 25, set by Cleveland last season. Ex-Bull Spencer Dinwiddie tossed up a 3 that rimmed out with about 40 seconds left.
Power forward Quincy Acy (21 points) led the 3-point barrage by going 6-for-13. Joe Harris was the most accurate at 4-for-5.
"When a team is shooting unconscious like that, happy birthday to them," said Bulls guard Sean Kilpatrick, who began the season with Brooklyn. "You can't really control that. You can contest, but they have great shooters over there. We can't sit there and let them guys have free wide-open 3s. That's unacceptable."
Kilpatrick led the Bulls with 20 points, while Bobby Portis added 18 and Cristiano Felicio picked up a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The Bulls (27-53) decided to sit rookie Lauri Markkanen for the second leg of back-to-back games, so he joined Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, Denzel Valentine, Paul Zipser, Noah Vonleh and Antonio Blakeney on the inactive list.
The Bulls had made double-digit 3-pointers in their previous four games, and knocked down as many as 18 this season. But they were just 6 for 29 from long range against the Nets. Holiday went 1-for-9.
"I thought we were coming off one of our better stretches of the year (defensively) where we were forcing turnovers," Hoiberg said. "Hopefully we finish off strong with these last two (games)."
If the Bulls do finish with the seventh-worst record, there's no guarantee they'll get the No. 7 draft pick. They could move into the top three with some luck in the draft lottery. Or if one or more teams behind them move into the top three, they could drop below No. 7.
Sacramento is just a game behind the Bulls, so there's a chance to get to the sixth-worst record if the Kings win one of their final two games. Ties for draft position are broken with a random drawing.
The Bulls visit Brooklyn on Monday, then finish the season at home against Detroit on Wednesday. The Nets have no reason to try to lose, since their first-round pick belongs to Cleveland. The Pistons have been eliminated from playoff contention, so that result could be unpredictable.
Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls