Ben Simmons has made his first free-throw since November as the Brooklyn Nets’ bid for a franchise-record NBA winning streak came crashing down in Chicago.
The Nets’ 121-112 defeat to the Bulls ended a 12-game winning streak, leaving them two wins short of equaling their all-time longest streak.
DeMar DeRozan (22 points), Patrick Williams (22) and Nikola Vucevic (21) led the scoring for the Bulls, with Vucevic’s double-double including 13 rebounds.
The Nets’ loss came despite a game-high 44 points from Kevin Durant – his third 40-point haul of the season – and 25 from Kyrie Irving, while Simmons finished with seven points and nine rebounds.
Simmons was 1-of-4 from the charity stripe, where he has struggled all season and had gone 0-of-9 during the Nets’ winning streak.
Fellow Australian Josh Giddey was also on the losing side as Oklahoma City were beaten 126-115 by the Magic in Orlando.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander returned from illness with 33 points for the Thunder, while Giddey added 16 points in a supporting act to go with his five rebounds and four assists.
But the Magic were too strong and had eight scorers in double figures, led by Paolo Banchero, who had 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
Orlando broke a three-game losing streak despite being without four suspended players.
The Thunder’s disappointing display came one night after they belted the NBA-leading Boston Celtics in a record-breaking performance.
“Consistency is something we’ve got to get better at,” Giddey said.
“Last night we beat one of the better teams in the league comfortably, and then we came in here and lost by 15.”
Elsewhere, James Harden’s 26 points and De’Anthony Melton’s go-ahead three-pointer late in overtime helped the Philadelphia 76ers overcome Joel Embiid’s absence in a 129-126 win over Indiana.
Embiid had been playing with a sore lower back and sat out with a left foot injury, suffered earlier this week.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 30 points, 10 assists and a season-high 21 rebounds for his second triple-double of the season as the Milwaukee Bucks beat Toronto 104-101 in overtime.
New Orleans registered a 119-108 win over struggling Houston behind 28 points from CJ McCollum in the Pelicans’ first game since learning star power forward Zion Williamson would be sidelined for about three weeks with a hamstring injury.
Jalen Brunson scored a career-high 38 points to help the New York Knicks squeeze past San Antonio 117-114.
Julius Randle had 25 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks.
Evan Mobley hit a 14-foot jumper with four seconds left on the clock to help the Cleveland Cavaliers score a 90-88 comeback win over Phoenix.
Donovan Mitchell provided the assist for Mobley and finished with 20 points, two nights after becoming the seventh player in history to score 70 or more in a single game.
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