National Basketball Association

McDermott, Butler lead Bulls past Nets 118-102

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 7:54 p.m. ET

foxsports

CHICAGO (AP) Doug McDermott scored 25 points and Jimmy Butler added 22 to help the Chicago Bulls beat the Brooklyn Nets 118-102 on Thursday night.

It's the third straight 20-plus point game for McDermott as Chicago moved a half-game in front of idle Detroit into eighth place and the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Bobby Portis added 12 points and 14 rebounds.

The injury-ravaged Bulls raced to a 24-point lead in the second quarter, then held on and finally finished off the lowly Nets, who outscored Chicago 37-24 in the third and closed to within four points early in the fourth.

Chicago got a season-high 60 points from its reserves, including McDermott's output.

Bojan Bogdanovic led the Nets comeback with 26 points one game after scoring career-high 44 points in Brooklyn's 131-114 victory over league-worst Philadelphia on Tuesday night.