East Rutherford, NJ (Sports Network) - Ben Gordon scored 24 points and Derrick Rose went for 21 while dishing out a game-high 13 assists as the Chicago Bulls posted a 100-87 victory over the Nets for their first win in New Jersey since 2001.
Chicago had lost 13 straight and 16 of its last 17 as the visitor in this series but exercised those demons with a balanced attack -- getting 17 points apiece from Andres Nocioni and Larry Hughes in the win despite being without the services of forward Luol Deng, who rolled his ankle in the club's loss to Miami Friday and is expected to miss a week of action.
Nocioni also contributed eight rebounds while Hughes grabbed seven boards and notched five helpers as the Bulls snapped a three-game skid and avoided a winless finish to a four-game road swing.
Chicago had dropped seven straight away from the United Center and improved to just 4-14 as the visitor this season.
Vince Carter and Devin Harris combined to score 57 of New Jersey's 87 points in the club's fourth straight home setback and second loss in the last three overall. The Nets' remaining three members of the starting five combined to score 14 points.
Carter was 11-of-19 from the field for a game-high 31 points while Harris was 8-of-20 and 10-of-14 from the line to finish with 26.
Trailing by two to open the fourth quarter, Chicago was slow to take advantage of New Jersey's continued poor shooting effort but managed to take the lead, 81-80, on a Rose layup with 7:40 to play.
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A Josh Boone slam tied the game at 86 moments later but New Jersey would go scoreless for 4:20 until Carter hit the back end of a two-shot trip to the line and Chicago walked away with the easy victory.
The Bulls led 32-20 after 12 minutes but the Nets battled back in the second with a 13-5 run which allowed for a five-point, 54-49, halftime deficit.
Chicago went nearly six minutes without scoring to open the second half but the Nets weren't much better and held only a four-point advantage, 60-56, after Rose got the hoop for two, ending the drought.
The Bulls reversed their fortunes and took a four-point lead with 1:40 left in the frame but New Jersey rattled off six straight points over that span for a 72-70 edge after three quarters.
