Nets blow another huge lead in brutal road loss to Bulls

Another double-digit lead.Another endgame meltdown.And another Nets loss, this one 116-110 Thursday night in Chicago before a sellout crowd of 21,647 at United Center.Brooklyn was up by 12 in the waning seconds of the third quarter, only to cough up a 27-9 run over the next nine minutes spanning into the fourth.The silver lining for the Nets (22-44) was moving into sole possession of fifth place in the lottery race, a half-game ahead of Philadelphia.

They’re a full game ahead of seventh-place Toronto, and have a tougher remaining schedule than either the 76ers or Raptors, both of whom were idle on Thursday.Cam Thomas had 24 points, a career-high 10 assists and six rebounds.Nic Claxton had 18 points and 14 boards.

But the Nets got outworked and outhustled in the fourth quarter, getting beaten to the ball and losing for the ninth time in 10 games.The Bulls won their fourth straight to solidify their lead over Brooklyn for the final Eastern Conference Play-In spot.With point guard Josh Giddey sidelined, the Bulls ran the offense through Coby White, who poured in a game-high 31 points.But the Nets — which led 92-80 with seconds left in the third — got outscored 34-18 in the fourth.

They shot just 29.6 percent and 2-of-12 from deep as they collapsed down the stretch.Brooklyn stormed out of the gate, reeling off the first eight unanswered points of the night.But they conceded a 20-7 run, including the last 10 to fall behind 26-21.The Nets answered back with a 9-1 blitz, and Thomas’ 3-pointer capped another 20-7 run to put them ahead 50-43.Thomas handed out a career-high tying eight assists before the first half even ended.

His gravity started drawing doubles in the second half.Brooklyn padded that cushion to 92-80 when Day’Ron Sharpe found Keon Johnson for a layup with :20.4 left in the third quarter.Sign up for Inside the Nets by Brian Lewis, exclusively on Sports+.

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