It’s rare to have a regular season game where just about everyone’s attention in the arena is elsewhere. That’s where the fans at United Center found themselves on Sunday evening as the hometown Bears took on the Los Angeles Rams in the last game of the NFL Divisional Round. It was a thriller at Solider Field, but at the United Center, it was an easy, stress-free night of basketball.

The Brooklyn Nets were without Michael Porter Jr and Drake Powell tonight as they sat the first leg of a traveling back-to-back. To begin the game, Brooklyn got off to a good start as they found some early success from three point range.

However, the highlights ended there as the Bulls regained the lead and never looked back.

The Nets defense made a dramatic turnaround in December, and it started with their defense. They held teams to just 32.8% from deep, third lowest in the NBA and just 105.4 points per 100 possessions, tops in the league. The team defense has started to slip in January, as teams shot 37.2% from three against them in January, 21st in the league. Tonight, we saw why.

Chicago’s offense started to figure things out in the fourth quarter of Friday’s game. Although their rally fell short, they went 6-12 from three point range and felt incredibly confident coming into tonight’s game. That confidence shined early and often in the Windy City. In the first half, the Bulls went 12-20 from three point range. The Nets’ switching defense wasn’t as in sync as they normally are and there were numerous breakdowns in their coverage. Coby White was the beneficiary of those lapses as his five first half threes

It was over early and the lead grew to as big as 27 points in the second half. The Nets tried switching things up by going with a starting five of Nolan Traore-Cam Thomas-Tyrese Martin-Jalen Wilson-Nic Claxton combination. As far as I could tell doing a quick scan of the NBA’s lineup data and in Basketball-Reference, it was the first time Jordi Fernandez went to that pairing. It didn’t help as the Bulls built their lead to 26 before the Nets went to the bench. With the game fully in hand, it was a slow crawl to the finish line and everyone could focus on the win the city is desperately hoping for over at Soldier Field.

“[We were] lacking on the defense, especially in the first half,” Fernández said post-game. “[To allow] 70 points in the first half, that’s not good enough. I don’t think it was good either in the second, but I don’t think we played hard consistently. We tried at times [but] our purpose was not there. That’s 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’re trying to do.

“Everything has to be done with purpose. You cannot just run around crazy and that’s it. So, that’s very important. No matter who we have out there … I believe we can go out, compete and win. And [Sunday] we didn’t compete to the best of our ability. So, I’m the first one to blame. Watch film [Monday], try to compete better.”

Final score: Chicago Bulls 124, Brooklyn Nets 102.

Milestone Watch

If you’re looking for a positive, Cam Thomas did tie his career high with ten assists on the night to only one turnover. CT’s playmaking has been a point of conversation throughout his time as a pro and a night like this should help him down the line. He had a season low (excluding the game he left early due to a hamstring injury) three points, but scoring has never been an issue for him.

Nolan Traoré set a career high in points (16) and three pointers made (four) off the bench, and with the team likely to be sitting players in their next game, has an opportunity to carve out even more minutes for himself.

With the loss, the Nets remain in fifth in the Tankathon lottery ratings, one game behind the Utah Jazz and fourth and a half behind the Indiana Pacers who are in first four-and-a-half games ahead (behind?) the Nets.

Next up

Speaking of the next game, it’s a quick turnaround for Brooklyn. The Nets are back in action tomorrow night against a surprising Phoenix Suns team. Tip off on MLK Day at 7:30 p.m. ET.

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