CHICAGO — The Nets’ first-ever In-Season Tournament game went right down to the buzzer, the most dramatic inaugural game they could’ve imagined.
And the Nets couldn’t breathe until they forced a last-second miss by Zach LaVine, and Ben Simmons grabbed the clinching rebound to seal a 109-107 victory before a crowd of 20,645 at United Center.
“I’m definitely excited about it. Different court, and seeing that at shootaround this morning, so there’s a little extra to this game and being a part of it,” Jacque Vaughn said before the game. “It’s new, it’s fresh. Let’s see what happens.”
What happened was another fourth-quarter comeback for the Nets, and a third straight victory.
And this one got them off to just the right start in East Group C.
“Whenever you’re able to be a part of something new in the NBA, it’s a blessing,” said Simmons, who had eight points, six assists and nine rebounds — the last by far the most vital. “So it’s a great thing to be a part of, especially being the first ones to be part of it.”
Dorian Finney-Smith had 16 of his team-high 21 points in the first half.
Starting a fourth straight game at center for injured starter Nic Claxton, the 6-foot-7, 220-pounder was going up against noted Net-killer Nikola Vucevic, giving up five inches and about 40 pounds.
He compensated by daring Vucevic to come out and contest him on a diet of pick-and-pops.
Mikal Bridges added 20 points.
Spencer Dinwiddie — returning after spraining his ankle Monday in Charlotte — had 10 points and nine assists, seven in the first quarter alone.
The Nets used an 8-0 fourth-quarter run to go ahead.
And in the waning seconds, they used a great defensive stand by Dinwiddie and Royce O’Neale — forcing LaVine into a missed runner with 14.3 seconds left — to stay ahead.
Bridges could’ve iced it at the free-throw line two seconds later, but missed his second attempt.
Chicago had one last chance, but Simmons wisely fouled LaVine before the Bulls star could put up a 3-point attempt.
He made the first, missed the second on purpose, and got his own offensive rebound.
But his 22-footer at the buzzer missed, and Simmons snatched the all-important rebound.
LaVine and DeMar DeRozan each had 24 points.
The Nets had jumped ahead early, 11-5, after Simmons found Bridges for a layup.
Brooklyn built a couple of double-digit leads, including 45-35 on a Lonnie Walker IV dunk with 7:52 left in the first half.
But the Nets promptly coughed up 14 unanswered points, going down by four on Vucevic’s only basket of the half.
It was 58-53 after a DeRozan 3-pointer.
And when Cam Thomas (17 points) got his floater blocked by Alex Caruso, and Bridges missed a wide-open layup with 1:13 left in the half, it didn’t seem like their night.
Thomas and Finney-Smith sandwiched 3-pointers around a LaVine miss to send Brooklyn into the locker room ahead 59-58.
But Finney-Smith’s white-hot first-half shooting — 16 points and 4-of-4 from behind the arc — wasn’t sustainable.
After hitting 60.9% in the first quarter, Brooklyn was just 34% combined over the second and third. They shot just 2-of-12 with a turnover coming out of the locker room, and dug themselves back into a hole.
They trailed 86-82 early in the fourth on DeRozan’s free throws.
But they reeled off an 8-0 run — largely powered by the bench — to reverse that deficit.
Dennis Smith Jr. — who returned after missing Wednesday’s win in Miami with a hip contusion — set up a bucket by Walker to cap the run.
Then he sank a 3-pointer of his own off a Bridges feed to make it 93-88 with 7:40 to play.
They never trailed again. After Chicago briefly knotted it at 93-all, Bridges’ 3-pointer put the Nets back ahead for good.
They held on with a huge defensive stand late to seal it.
“Obviously these games have weight, playing on new courts, it’s good for the fans. So it should be a nice little boost of energy in the arena,” said Dinwiddie, who sees the value in being part of something new and innovative.
“Yeah, anytime you get a chance to do [something new], be a part of the inaugural season or inaugural go-round, it’s fun and you want to put your best foot forward and help your team win as many games as possible, but also help the success of the tournament in general.”