The Brooklyn Nets saw their 12-game winning streak end Wednesday night.
After losing to the Bulls 121-112 in Chicago, they will try to avoid losing consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 13-15 when they visit the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night.
Kevin Durant, who made 15 of 22 field-goal attempts, led Brooklyn with a game-high 44 points, one short of his season-high, but Chicago had six players score in double figures.
Durant scored a season-high 28 points in the first half, but the Bulls still held a 69-59 halftime lead.
Brooklyn, which has won 16 of its last 18 games, hadn’t lost a road game since Nov. 25 when it fell to the Pacers 128-117. This is the middle game of a three-game road trip.
Kyrie Irving added 25 points, but made just 1 of 8 3-pointers, for the Nets, and Seth Curry scored 22.
Brooklyn’s surge, which has the team near the top of the Eastern Conference, earned Vaughn Coach of the Month honors in the East for December.
The West’s coaching award went to the Pelicans’ Willie Green, whose team went 10-5.
New Orleans rolled to a 31-point second-quarter lead and led by 25 points at the end of the third quarter against the visiting Houston Rockets on Wednesday night. It looked as though Green was going to be able to rest his starters in the fourth quarter.
But the Rockets kept chipping away at the deficit and when they got within 16 midway through the period, Green sent CJ McCollum and Jonas Valanciunas back into the game.
It would have been helpful to Green to be able to limit his starters’ minutes because he’s going to have to lean on them while leading scorer Zion Williamson is sidelined for at least three weeks because of a strained hamstring. Also, second-leading scorer Brandon Ingram has yet to return from a bruised toe that has kept him out of the last 19 games.
McCollum finished with a game-high 28 points to lead six New Orleans scorers in double figures. Valanciunas added 16 points and 17 rebounds.
New Orleans’ 17-4 home record is the best through 21 games in franchise history.
