Lopez, Nets cool down red-hot Bulls
Maybe Lionel Hollins is on to something.
The Brooklyn Nets have played their best basketball of the season since the team's first-year head coach shook up the starting lineup. That didn't change Tuesday.
Brooklyn continued its winning ways by beating up on the Chicago Bulls in a 96-82 road win at the United Center. Brook Lopez led all scorers with a season-high 29 points on 13-of-21 shooting from the field, while Joe Johnson chipped in with 20 and 11 rebounds.
The Nets, who have struggled against the NBA's best teams, snapped the Bulls' seven-game winning streak in the process.
Nets win this season is their 2nd over a team currently .500 or better. Entering Tuesday, they were just 1-11 in those games this season
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 31, 2014
Lopez's big night comes after he was inserted into the starting five following four consecutive games coming off the bench. It marked the first time ever that Lopez and fellow big Mason Plumlee started alongside each other.
Brooklyn improved to 5-1 since Jarrett Jack took over as the team's starting point guard for the oft-injured Deron Williams. Both Lopez and Williams missed time due to injury before returning and coming off the bench.
Jack cooled down Tuesday, scoring 11 points and dishing out five assists, but entered the game averaging 19.4 points and 5.4 assists in his previous five games as the starting point guard.
Williams, meanwhile, continued to struggle in a reserve role. He was held to single digits for the fourth consecutive game and, after shooting 1-of-8 from the field with three turnovers in Tuesday's win, Williams is shooting 25 percent over that stretch.
Hollins indicated Monday that he would stick with his new lineup before he eventually inserted Lopez back into the starting unit. But with the way the team has been playing with Jack starting, Williams may find himself coming off the bench for the foreseeable future, whether he's one of the league's highest-paid players or not.
"Yes, they were starters, but they've been in and out of the lineup," Hollins said Monday, according to Mike Mazzeo of ESPN. "And if you note, while they were out we started playing better and winning, so why would I go back and change the lineup for now?"
Mike Dunleavy led the Bulls with 23 points and made the play of the game, while Joakim Noah doubled-doubled with a 12-point, 12-rebound effort.
Derrick Rose was held to four points on 2-of-15 shooting.