CHICAGO — Devin Harris was a little sick and a lot ticked off. Chris Douglas-Roberts was enjoying the challenge. Brook Lopez was confident. The Nets were viewing matters differently, but all had a similar goal. Win.
Derrick Rose had given the Bulls a one-point lead with 19.5 seconds left on a shot that capped a horrible sequence when the Nets’ offense performed like it was on training wheels. On three trips, the Nets got zip. On three trips, the Bulls got scores, capped by Rose’s drive.
“I was a little ticked off, yeah,” Harris said. “For most of the game, we corralled him pretty well. But we had a letdown in the last four, five minutes. We just let him get to the middle and get to his floater.”
But Rose left :19.5 on the clock. Harris, “a little under the weather,” drove on the right side against Rose, hit a 9-footer and the Nets came up with one more key stop to emerge with a 103-101 victory, their second triumph in three games — or their second in 21 games, depending on your point of view.
When the Nets, home versus the Warriors tonight, needed that decisive score, interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe turned to Harris (17 points).
“When you’re going for the win you put the ball in the hands of your best player and let him get the win for you,” Vandeweghe said.
The Nets, whose 80-70 lead at the start of the fourth eroded through eight straight misses plus the efforts of 27-point scorers Rose and Luol Deng (both had 11 in the fourth), added two free throws by Rafer Alston (17 points) then fouled.
Rose made one free throw and missed the second, and the Nets had their win, despite nearly blowing a lead that hit 99-94 when Courtney Lee scored at 1:52.
“We got the stops when we needed,” said Lopez (25 points, 10 rebounds). “We were playing very confidently.”
“I love it. I don’t want easy wins,” Douglas-Roberts (20 points) said. “It’s great to get blowout victories, but I love it when we get a challenge to see how we’ll be in situations like that.”