The drama was lacking. Ditto the distance. And as far as buzzer-beater excitement, there was enough time on the clock to rotate your tires. Twice.
But the time to make a move had arrived. Devin Harris sensed it. And he didn’t want a repeat of the two previous games with the Bulls.
“The last two times we played this team, we played them great throughout the first three quarters and it was them making all the big plays in the fourth,” said Harris. “We definitely wanted to change things up.”
So with the Nets down one in a much-needed game, Harris didn’t really change. He just kept doing what he was doing. Only doing it more.
Harris scored seven points of his 42 points in a critical, game-turning stretch, and the defense smothered the Bulls in the fourth quarter as the Nets arose in a game with possible playoff implications and stormed to a 111-99 victory at the Meadowlands last night.
“He’s been pretty damn good all year,” coach Lawrence Frank said. “You’re not going to get 39 and 42 every night. Look, he’s an All-Star. He’s playing like one. He understands the moment, in terms of where we’re at, keeping our eyes on the prize as far as how valuable every game is.”
This one lacked excitement of Harris’ halfcourt game-winning heave Monday against Philadelphia, when he scored only 39. The Nets could care less. They’ll gladly take their second consecutive victory, a triumph that moves them into a dead-even tie for ninth in the East with the Bulls at 26-32, and places them one game behind eighth-place Milwaukee.
Harris (six assists) had help, of course. Bobby Simmons scored 18 off the bench. The team set a franchise record, going a perfect 25-of-25 at the foul line, Harris sinking 11 of those.
The Bulls, who had raced out to a 10-point lead before 4:30 had expired, were stifled by the Nets’ defense in the fourth. The Nets outscored Chicago, 37-21, holding it to 28-percent shooting, including a 1-of-13 start. Keyon Dooling totally took Ben Gordon (17 points) out late.
“Our effort in the fourth was tremendous, keeping them at 21 points,” said Vince Carter, who struggled again offensively (4-of-14 for a four-game total of 22-of-63) but added nine rebounds and seven assists to his 11 points.
The Nets trailed, 82-81, with just over 9 minutes left when Harris went to work. He scored three straight Nets baskets, including a 3, while Chicago’s Tyrus Thomas helped out by firing three straight clunkers. Then Brook Lopez (13 points) scored a three-point play at 6:34, and the Nets were laughing, 91-82.
“He was on an amazing roll. When he gets it going like that, the rest of the team seems to get out of his way,” said Jarvis Hayes, who played after sitting two games with partially torn left thumb ligaments. “When he has a game going like that, he’s pretty damn hard to stop.”
Nets 111 Bulls 99