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Chicago • Every play near the basket looked like a traffic accident. There were long scoreless stretches. Shooting from outside was a dicey proposition.
It was ugly for everyone but the Chicago Bulls. This was their type of game.
Carlos Boozer had 22 points and 16 rebounds, Luol Deng added 21 points and 10 boards, and the Bulls held off the Brooklyn Nets 79-76 in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series Thursday night.
"We did what we had to do to win the game," Boozer said. "In the playoffs you have to win different ways. Nothing is perfect."
Chicago had no field goals and two foul shots over the final 5:46 of its second straight win in the series. It will try for a 3-1 lead when the banged-up teams return to the court Saturday afternoon in a quick turnaround.
Brooklyn shot 35 percent for the second straight game. Brook Lopez had 22 points, nine rebounds and seven blocked shots, and Deron Williams finished with 18 points on 5-for-14 shooting.
"When we get the ball swung to the weak side and we get some movement, we're fine," Williams said. "But when we just let them keep us on one side, we're struggling. We're struggling to shoot the ball, score the ball, and we're playing right into what they want to do."
Deng led the way as Chicago grabbed control in the third quarter for the second consecutive game. The All-Star forward scored 12 points in the first 4 minutes of the period, seemingly scoring at will against Gerald Wallace as the Bulls turned a seven-point halftime advantage into a 16-point lead.
"I had a few good minutes," Deng said. "I felt like I could have shot the ball a lot better. I don't know how many minutes, seven or so of great minutes. They could have sent me home after that." Bulls 79, Nets 76
FG FT Reb
Brooklyn Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
Wallace 25:08 2-8 0-0 0-4 0 3 5
Evans 25:27 0-2 0-0 1-12 1 3 0
Lopez 34:56 8-16 6-6 3-9 1 3 22
Williams 40:02 5-14 5-5 0-2 4 0 18
Johnson 40:54 6-14 2-2 1-3 3 2 15
Blatche 21:18 3-9 1-2 1-3 2 3 7
Watson 20:06 1-8 0-0 0-3 3 3 2
Stackhse 6:09 0-3 1-2 1-2 0 0 1
Hmphries 14:00 2-4 0-0 0-2 0 2 4
Brooks 12:00 1-3 0-0 0-2 1 0 2
Totals 240:00 28-81 15-17 7-42 15 19 76
Percentages: FG .346, FT .882. 3-Point Goals: 5-21, .238 (Williams 3-8, Johnson 1-4, Wallace 1-5, Stackhouse 0-2, Watson 0-2). Team Rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: 11 (9 PTS). Blocked Shots: 11 (Lopez 7, Blatche 2, Humphries, Williams). Turnovers: 10 (Lopez 2, Williams 2, Blatche, Humphries, Johnson, Stackhouse, Wallace, Watson). Steals: 5 (Wallace 2, Evans, Johnson, Williams). Technical Fouls: Blatche, 10:12 second.
FG FT Reb
Chicago Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
Deng 43:30 9-23 2-3 2-10 3 2 21
Boozer 40:11 9-15 4-5 1-16 3 2 22
Noah 27:03 0-7 1-2 3-8 2 2 1
Hinrich 39:38 5-12 2-2 0-2 2 3 12
Butler 32:01 1-5 1-2 1-4 1 3 4
Mhmmd 16:21 2-3 1-2 2-6 2 1 5
Gibson 12:13 2-6 0-0 0-1 0 0 4
Robinson 16:26 2-3 2-3 0-1 2 1 7
Belinelli 12:19 1-4 1-2 0-0 2 1 3
Teague 0:07 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Cook 0:11 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 240:00 31-78 14-21 9-48 17 15 79
Percentages: FG .397, FT .667. 3-Point Goals: 3-15, .200 (Robinson 1-2, Butler 1-3, Deng 1-6, Belinelli 0-1, Hinrich 0-3). Team Rebounds: 12. Team Turnovers: 15 (18 PTS). Blocked Shots: 3 (Noah 2, Gibson). Turnovers: 13 (Boozer 4, Deng 3, Hinrich 2, Noah 2, Belinelli, Mohammed). Steals: 6 (Deng 2, Hinrich 2, Boozer, Butler). Technical Fouls: None.
Brooklyn 17 17 18 24 — 76
Chicago 19 22 24 14 — 79
Attendance • 21,672 Time • 2:22.
Officials • Joe Crawford, James Capers, Sean Corbin.