Nets defeat Bulls, 95-92, to force Game 7

Down and just about out, the Brooklyn Nets are suddenly on quite a roll.

And it just might carry them to the next round.

Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson each scored 17 points, and the Nets again avoided elimination, beating the short-handed Chicago Bulls 95-92 on Thursday to tie their first-round series at 3.

The series goes back to Brooklyn for Game 7 on Saturday, with the winner getting defending champion Miami in the second round.

"We just believed," Johnson said. "We believed in one another. In practice (Wednesday), we went over a lot. More so than anything, it was about who wanted it badder."

The Bulls hung in until the end even though they were missing Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich, but Brooklyn came away with its second straight win to avoid elimination.

A layup by Nazr Mohammed cut the Nets' lead to 93-92 with 25.2 seconds remaining.

Nate Robinson then fouled Andray Blatche, who had missed a free throw only moments earlier. This time, he hit both to make it a three-point game with 19.2 seconds left.

The Bulls had a chance to tie it, but Marco Belinelli missed a 3-pointer and Joakim Noah stepped out of bounds with about six seconds left.

Chicago still had a chance, though.

Noah tied up Williams after the inbounds, resulting in a jump ball with 3.6 seconds left.

Johnson controlled the ball, and the Nets hung on.

Gerald Wallace added 15 points for Brooklyn.

Only eight NBA teams have come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a best-of-7 series, but the Nets are in position to do that.

"Most people would have counted us out being down 3-1," Blatche said. "But we kept fighting. We showed that we have a lot of heart. Now that it's tied up, we have to go out with the same hunger, the same attitude, finish this off."

And the Bulls?

"We're a team of fighters," Noah said. "We keep getting punched in the face, but we fight back. I'm proud of this team."

Butler had 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Chicago. Noah added 14 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks. Carlos Boozer scored 14 and grabbed 13 boards.

With the Nets and Bulls meeting in Game 7, Rihanna's concert scheduled for Saturday at the Barclays Center is getting moved to Tuesday.

(China Daily 05/04/2013 page16)