Bulls Battle But Can't Close Out Nets in Game 5

The Brooklyn Nets brought the series to 3-2 with their 110-91 victory on Monday night

The Chicago Bulls came close to closing out the series on Monday night with the Brooklyn Nets, but in the end, the home team put up enough of a fight to take Game 5 on Monday night, 110-91. The win brings the series 3-2 in favor of Chicago who will have a chance to close things out on their home floor Thursday night in Game 6.

After the triple-overtime thriller that was Game 4 and playing without Kirk Hinrich, the Bulls faced a tough task in trying to win a closeout game on the road. But it’s good they’ll have, at the very least, two more chances to seal the deal with one of those game being played at the United Center.

Game 6 of this series takes place Thursday night.

The Good

Nate Robinson (20 points, eight assists) continues to be a problem that Brooklyn just seems to have no answer for and he played another stellar game, starting in place of the injured Hinrich. Jimmy Butler (18 points) had his best offensive outing on the series while Luol Deng (12 points, eight rebounds), Carlos Boozer (10 points, 10 rebounds) and Joakim Noah (11 points, four rebounds) all did a decent job offensively in the game. The Bulls as a team shot 49 percent in Game 5, but that’s where it ends for Chicago when it comes to “The Good.”

The Bad

Brooklyn really took it to Chicago inside and came away with a 54-42 advantage scoring in the paint. The Nets also out-rebounded Chicago 44-33 in the game and gave up 16 points on 13 turnovers. Also, the Bulls defense was pretty much null and void as they allowed Brooklyn to shoot 50 percent from the field in the game.

The Ugly

Chicago was crushed in second-chance points scoring, 24-12, and in fast break points, 21-9. Also, being forced to start Robinson decimated the bench’s offensive output as the Nets outscored the Bulls, 32-20.

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