Nets and D’Angelo Russell Keep Rolling in Victory Over Bulls

CHICAGO — D’Angelo Russell scored 28 points, DeMarre Carroll had 20 points off the bench, and the Nets beat the Chicago Bulls, 117-100, on Sunday for their third straight victory.

Jarrett Allen added 19 and 6 rebounds as the Nets improved to 12-3 in their last 15 games, matching their best 15-game stretch since moving to Brooklyn in 2012.

Zach LaVine had 27 points for Chicago, and Bobby Portis scored 17 in 20 minutes off the bench after missing seven games with a sprained right ankle. Kris Dunn added 16 points.

The Nets (20-21) did not win their 20th game last season until Feb. 26, also against Chicago. The victory was their 10th on the road; it took them until March 28 to reach that level last season.

The Bulls (10-30) lost their fourth straight over all and fifth in a row to the Nets.

Russell topped 20 points for the fourth straight game and is averaging 26.5 points in the stretch. Before the game, Coach Kenny Atkinson attributed Russell’s surge to “really stepping it up in terms of his pace, his energy, a lot of juice out there.”

Both teams started slowly, with the Bulls hitting just one of their first eight shots and the Nets connecting on just three of 10.

But with Carroll kicking in 9 points, the Nets moved ahead by 28-21 after the first quarter. The Nets opened a 12-point lead when Russell hit a 3-pointer 58 seconds into the second quarter.

Led by energized play from LaVine and Porter, the Bulls came back to briefly take a 1-point lead before the half, and then settle for a 55-55 tie at halftime.

LaVine had 16 points and Portis had 9 in the second quarter. LaVine made five straight baskets — four on driving layups, and a 3-pointer — in a three-and-a-half-minute stretch to put the Bulls back in the game.

Russell had 10 points and Allen had 9 at the half. Both kicked into a higher offensive gear to start the third as the Nets pulled out to another 12-point lead midway through the quarter. Russell hit three straight 3-pointers in 2 minutes 31 seconds.

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