INDIANAPOLIS—While Ohio State fans chanted ”We want `Bama,” coach Urban Meyer argued for an opportunity(They WILL get Bama in the Sugar Bowl).Moments after No. 6 Ohio State finished its 59-0 rout of No. 11 Wisconsin, Meyer hoisted the Big Ten championship trophy in the air and lobbied for a spot in the inaugural College Football Playoff.

”I don’t think there’s any doubt we’re one of the top four teams in America,”

Meyer shouted to the crowd but almost defiantly to the selection committee, which must make its decision Sunday.(The Buckeyes DID make the 4 team Playoff and will face Alabama in the Sugar Bowl).
Some expected the Buckeyes to drop out of the conversation with the tough game against the Badgers. Instead, the Buckeyes made an emphatic statement.Cardale Jones, who started this season as the Buckeyes’ No. 3 quarterback, looked every bit as good as Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett. Jones even did something his all-conference predecessors could not – leading the Buckeyes to the conference title.The first-time starter threw for 257 yards and three touchdowns and earned MVP honors. Afterward, he slid a rose into the side of his hat, hopeful of a playoff bid.Before the title game, it looked as if the Buckeyes would be the first team out. They still might.But Ohio State (12-1, 8-0, No. 5 CFP) believes the rout should at least keep it in the conversation.The Buckeyes have won 11 straight since losing at home to Virginia Tech. They have defeated nine bowl-eligible teams, all but two by double digits.And Jones’ play may have tamped down the argument that the Buckeyes shouldn’t make it after losing Barrett to a broken right ankle in the regular-season finale.Jones was efficient and effective, going 12 of 17. Ezekiel Elliott had 20 carries for a career-high 220 yards, and Devin Smith caught four passes for 137 yards and three scores.The defense completely shut down Wisconsin (10-3, 7-1, No. 13 CFP) and kept Melvin Gordon, the nation’s leading rusher, under control. Gordon ran 26 times for 76 yards in his second-worst game of the season, and Ohio State handed the Badgers their first shutout since August 1997. It was also their worst loss since a 59-0 rout, also against the Buckeyes, in 1979.All of this came after an emotional week for the Buckeyes, who learned of the death of defensive lineman Kosta Karageorge one day after Barrett’s season-ending injury.Ohio State honored Karageorge by wearing a decal with his jersey number, 53, on the back of its helmets. Defensive tackle Michael Bennett changed his jersey number from 63 to 53.There was a pregame moment of silence to honor Karageorge, who was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

”A lot of things happened this past week and there’s a family grieving that was a part of our family,” Meyer said. ”We’ll never forget our teammate.”

They still managed to beat a team that had won seven straight, had rushed for an average of 435.8 yards in its previous five games in the Hoosier State and was a four-point favorite coming into Saturday.But against a determined quarterback and the motivated Buckeyes, Wisconsin never had a chance.Ohio State scored on five of its first six possessions against the nation’s No. 4 scoring defense. The Buckeyes outgained the Badgers 558-258.

”I’ve got to take a long, hard look at the tape on both sides of the football,” Badgers coach Gary Andersen said. ”We did not execute in key moments. I need to do a better job of coaching them.”

The Buckeyes made it look easy.Just six plays into the game, Jones hooked up with Smith on a pretty 39-yard floater for a 7-0 lead. Elliott then found a hole in the middle and sprinted 81 yards for a score.After Wisconsin finally held the Buckeyes to a field goal, Jones hooked up again with Smith on a 44-yard TD pass to make it 24-0 with 11:09 left in the second quarter, and Ohio State capped the half with Elliott’s 14-yard TD run and Joey Bosa’s 4-yard fumble return for a score to make it 38-0.Not much changed in the second half.Smith made a nifty two-handed, off-balance catch as he was going backward into the end zone for a 42-yard score early in the third quarter, and the Buckeyes, last year’s Big Ten runner-up, closed it out with Curtis Samuel’s two touchdown runs in the fourth.

INDIANAPOLIS—Butler defended its home court by guarding the paint on defense and attacking it on offense. That strategy allowed the Bulldogs to beat Northwestern 65-56 on Saturday.Butler justified its No. 23 ranking and proved it could be physical. The Bulldogs outscored the Wildcats 22-6 in the paint by halftime and 38-20 at the end of Saturday’s game.Butler’s physical approach on offense put Northwestern in foul trouble, sending the Bulldogs to the line for 28 free throw attempts. Butler made 16 of 28, outscoring the Wildcats from the line 16 to 6. That wasn’t Butler interim head coach Chris Holtmann’s game plan.

”We always talk about a certain number of paint touches that we want to get in games,” Holtmann said. ”We did feel like if we could move them we could drive them, but I think our guys just kind of took what was there. That’s just kind of how the game went.”

Butler accompanied their intense interior play on offense with a strong effort on defense. The Bulldogs finished with six blocks, forcing the Wildcats to shoot more from the perimeter. Northwestern was 6 of 18 on 3-pointers, and trailed the entire game.The Bulldogs are more comfortable scoring from the perimeter, but Northwestern’s defense gave Butler’s Roosevelt Jones, who scored 12 points, options on offense. Butler was only 1 of 5 on 3-pointers. Kellen Dunham had 19 points for the Bulldogs.

”We’re trying to beat (Alex) Olah off of ball screens. If I could drive it, I would drive it. If I could kick it to Kellen, I would kick it to Kellen,” Jones said. ”I was just taking what they were giving me.”

Butler held Northwestern’s 7-foot center Alex Olah to just 11 points and four total rebounds. Despite an inability to impact the game in the paint offensively and shoot effectively from the perimeter, the Wildcats late surge kept them close.

”Today for us was a good step in the right direction, although we were disappointed in the end result. We’re on a road game and we were in a tough environment,” Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. ”I thought they beat us off the dribble, especially Jones and (Alex) Barlow, those guys were in our paint a lot. When you lose by 18 in the paint, that’s going to be tough to overcome.”

Butler held a six point lead with under four minutes left when Nathan Taphorn’s 3-pointer pulled Northwestern within one possession. But the Bulldogs finished the way they started and capped off a 5-0 run with Alex Barlow‘s steal leading to a fast-break layup. That put them ahead by eight with two minutes to play and forced the Wildcats to call a timeout.NU’s Bryant McIntosh shot an off-balance 3-pointer with thirty seconds left that bounced off the back iron. Vic Law finished with 10 and McIntosh finished with 12 points for the Wildcats.

Most of the bounces – even crazy, hard-to-explain ones – seem to be going the Blackhawks’ way.Brandon Saad scored with 27 seconds left in the third period and surging Hawks won its fifth straight game, 4-3 over the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night.Saad snapped a shot past Corey Price from the low edge of the right circle for the winner. Patrick Kane shot from the top of the slot and Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov couldn’t handle the puck.

That turned out to be the difference in a back-and-forth, up-tempo game between two Original Six rivals played before a crowd of 22,087, the Blackhawks’ largest this season.

”I think Kaner was trying to get to the net and it got deflected and ended up right on my stick, so I’m thankful for that,” Saad said.

Jonathan Toews scored a power-play goal early in the third to tie it at 3. Michal Rozsival and Ben Smith connected at even strength as the Blackhawks won for the eighth time in nine games by coming back from a 3-2 deficit after two periods.It was just the Hawks second win this season when trailing after 40 minutes.

”I think there was composure,” Joel Quenneville said. ”You could sense on the bench there was no desperation.”

”We were heading in the right direction. Let’s be positive in finding a way,” he said.

Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher scored and set up 40-year-old Sergei Gonchar’s first goal in nearly a year. P.K. Subban added a power-play goal for the Canadiens, who have lost two straight and are 1-4-1 in their last six.Following the game, Canadiens kept watching replays of Saad’s winner, trying to figure out just what happened. Heading into the game, Montreal was a perfect 10-0-0 when leading after two periods.It was the second and final regular-season contest between the teams. The Blackhawks won 5-0 at Montreal on Nov. 4.Antti Raanta made 38 saves as Blackhawks No. 1 goalie Corey Crawford sat out his second game with a foot injury, sustained while leaving a concert.Price blocked 32 shots.Gonchar, acquired from Dallas on Nov. 11, scored his first goal with the Habs and first since Jan. 25, a span of 44 games.Rozsival, a defenseman, opened the scoring 2:13 in with his first goal of the season to cap a 3-on-2 rush.Raanta’s pad save denied Brandon Prust on a breakaway midway through the first to maintain the lead, then Smith made it 2-0 with 1:44 left in the period.Smith’s shot from right wing hit traffic in front and bounced around just beyond the crease, but Smith plowed to the net and chipped in the loose puck.Gallagher responded just 26 seconds later to make it 2-1 and nip the Hawks momentum when he one-timed a rising shot from right hash marks into the upper left corner of the net.Gonchar tied it at 2 at 7:58 of an up-tempo second period.Subban put Montreal ahead 3-2 with 2:38 left in the second, just 13 seconds into a Canadiens power play.With Subban off for hooking, Toews’ power-play tap-in at 4:18 of the third made it 3-all.

NOTES—Patrick Sharp missed his 13th game (knee) on Friday, but could rejoin the team during a four-game road trip that starts Saturday in Nashville….The Hawks have been on a roll without the 32-year-old winger, who led the team in goals (34) and points (78) last season. ”I’m just trying to get myself back into game shape and jump right in,” Sharp said. He was injured on Nov. 4 in Montreal. … The Blackhawks honored Canadiens great Jean Beliveau, who died on Tuesday, with a pregame moment of silence.

Tony Romo has bigger goals for the Dallas Cowboys so he wasn’t about to get too excited over securing a winning season.To him, that was just one step.DeMarco Murray ran for a season-high 179 yards and a touchdown, Romo threw for three scores and the Cowboys beat the Bears 41-28 on Thursday night.The Cowboys (9-4) made it look easy for most of the night against a struggling team that lost star receiver Brandon Marshall to a rib injury. Dallas clinched its first winning season since 2009 and guaranteed it will finish above .500 after three straight 8-8 finishes. But the Cowboys are looking for more, with an NFC East title and first playoff appearance in five years in sight. ”Other than the fact we still have all our goals in front of us,” Romo said when asked about clearing the eight-win mark. ”I think that that’s more for you guys to do your 8-8 stuff.” Led by Romo and Murray, Dallas rebounded from a blowout loss to the Eagles on Thanksgiving and pulled within a half-game of them with another showdown in Philadelphia next week.The Cowboys took a 14-7 halftime lead and scored 21 unanswered in the third quarter before the Bears (5-8) rallied in the fourth.With that, the Cowboys improved to a league-best 6-0 on the road, where they have won seven straight since a blowout loss at Soldier Field on a bone-chilling night last December.Romo, who has been bothered by a bad back, kept checking down and completed 21 of 26 passes for 205 yards. His rating for the game was 138 coming off a rough outing against the Eagles.Murray, the league’s leading rusher, carried 32 times. He also had 49 yards receiving on nine catches. ”Like a lot of great backs through the years in this league, oftentimes these guys get better the more touches they get,” coach Jason Garrett said. ”I think he’s demonstrating that. He just has such a good feel for running the football.” Dez Bryant had six receptions for 82 yards. Cole Beasley caught two touchdowns, and the Cowboys converted 7 of 14 third downs along with 2 of 2 fourth downs.For the Bears, it was just another rough night in a disappointing season that will likely end with them missing the playoffs for the seventh time in eight years. ”This team competes hard every day to get better and it competes hard in the football game,” coach Marc Trestman said. ”That would be totally disrespecting our football team to think they’re not going out and competing as hard as they can.” Marshall’s injury was another blow for the Bears.He was hurt taking a knee to the right side from the Cowboys’ Barry Church following a reception in the second quarter. That happened moments after he made a spectacular 42-yard catch, juggling the ball with his right hand, to help set up a touchdown. TV cameras showed him leaving Soldier Field in an ambulance, and Marshall later posted on Twitter, ”Thanks for the Prayers. .. I’m Good. (hash)MindOverMatter.” Jay Cutler was 32 of 46 for 341 yards and two touchdowns. Martellus Bennett had a career-high 12 receptions for 84 yards against his former team, but the Bears had trouble sustaining drives.They also did not get much from the run game after managing just eight attempts in the loss at Detroit a week earlier. Matt Forte had 13 carries for 26 yards after tying a career low with five rushes against the Lions. ”You just want to be in it at the end (of the season),” Cutler said. ”Unfortunately throughout the year we’ve done some things to not give ourselves a chance and we’re upset about that.” Murray accounted for 105 yards during a busy half as Dallas, running for 65 and a touchdown and adding 40 receiving. Romo kept checking down and completed 17 of 21 passes for 123 yards, including a 13-yarder to Beasley in the closing seconds.That sent the Cowboys to the locker room with a 14-7 lead and they added to it in the third quarter.Romo connected with a leaping Beasley for a 24-yard TD early in the quarter after Anthony Spencer stripped Forte near midfield following a screen pass, making it 21-7. The Cowboys increased their lead to 21 minutes later when Romo found Gavin Escobar in the back of the end zone, a 43-yard catch by Bryant setting up that score.Joseph Randle added a 17-yard TD run late in the quarter to make it 35-7.Cowboys defensive tackle Josh Brent played for the first time this season after serving a 10-game suspension and being held out for two more following his intoxication manslaughter conviction.He hadn’t played since Dec. 2, 2012, six days before the drunken-driving crash that killed teammate Jerry Brown. ”I’ve been blessed to be put back in this position and I’m gonna take advantage of it,” Brent said. Notes: Beasley, who entered the league in 2012, came into the game with just three career TD catches. … The Bears held out kicker Robbie Gould (right quadriceps) and defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff (knee). … Chris Conte left the game in the third quarter with a back injury.

Joel Quenneville has seen this Kris Versteeg before. Not last season, when Versteeg was still finding his way after knee surgery, but way back in 2010, when he was an emerging young forward.Versteeg scored 59 seconds into the third period and had the primary assist on each of Patrick Kane‘s two goals, leading streaking Blackhawks to a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night.

”Let’s compare it (to) 2010. That’s more realistic,” Quenneville said when asked about Versteeg’s game a year ago. ”I think he’s back where he was, or wanted to be. You know he’s coming off that injury, and I can go back to every single guy that had an ACL injury, it takes a year to get back to square one.”

Marcus Kruger also scored, and Antti Raanta had 40 saves in his first start since Corey Crawford was sidelined by a left foot injury. Back at home after a 5-1 road trip, the Hawks killed each of St. Louis’ six power plays and won for the seventh time in eight games.Ian Cole scored in the second for the Blues, who had won four of five. Jake Allen made 29 saves.

”You can blame the power plays all you want and your best players on the power play, but we gave the game away in the third period,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said.

Martin Brodeur was the backup to Allen in St. Louis’ first game since the NHL’s winningest goalie signed a one-year contract on Tuesday.The second line of Versteeg, Brad Richards and Kane has played a key role in the Blackhawks’ resurgence. Versteeg has four goals and 10 assists in his last eight games, and Kane has eight goals and seven assists in his last nine games.

”I’m just trying to get the puck into great players’ hands and let them go to work,” Versteeg said. ”Those two guys have been helping me out a lot. Just got to keep going and grinding it out.”

Versteeg put the Hawks in front for good when he one-timed a pass from Jonathan Toews into the lower right side of the net for his eighth of the season. He then made a pair of nice passes to Kane to help the Blackhawks put the game away.Kane beat Allen to the stick side at 2:47 of the third. He added his 12th goal when he made a terrific move to get past defenseman Barret Jackman before sliding a shot between Allen’s legs at 5:19.

”You can’t let a team with that skill get those chances, but it was only a five-minute span, and they took advantage of it,” Allen said.

Crawford had made 14 consecutive starts, but he hurt his left foot when he missed a step while leaving a recent concert and is expected to be sidelined two to three weeks. Crawford said Wednesday he was embarrassed and frustrated, but declined to reveal any further details about what happened.Crawford’s injury put Raanta in goal for the first time since he had 28 saves in a 3-2 loss at St. Louis on Oct. 25. It was just his fourth appearance of the season.

”I think it was a pretty good 60 minutes,” Raanta said. ”Maybe the last 50 minutes was even better than the first 10, but I felt very good.”

The Blackhawks jumped in front when Brandon Saad stole the puck from Cole near center ice and started a 2-on-1 rush with a pass to Kruger, who beat Allen for his fourth goal at 15:57 of the first.St. Louis used a delayed penalty to tie it at 1 in the second. With the Blues enjoying a 6-on-5 skating advantage, Patrik Berglund passed to an open Cole on the right side for his second goal at 12:38. The Blues outshot the Blackhawks 13-7 in the period.

NOTES—Brodeur tops the NHL’s career lists for wins (688), games played (1,259), losses (394) and shutouts (124), all with New Jersey. …Brent Seabrook played 25 minutes after he missed practice on Tuesday due to an illness.

—

AFC GAMES:
MIAMI over Baltimore
Indianapolis over CLEVELAND
Houston over JACKSONVILLE
DENVER over Buffalo
Pittsburgh over CINCINNATI

NFC GAMES:
St.Louis over WASHINGTON
NEW ORLEANS over Carolina
Seattle over PHILADELPHIA

INTER CONF GAMES:
Kansas City over Arizona
San Francisco over OAKLAND
New York Giants over TENNESSEE

SUNDAY NIGHT:
New England over SAN DIEGO

NFC NORTH GAMES:

DETROIT over TAMPA BAY
MINNESOTA over N.Y.Jets
GREEN BAY over Atlanta
Dallas over BEARS

ALL CAP’S are HOME TEAMS.
WEEK 14: LES 8-8, ADAM & KEVIN 10-6, ZACH 11-5
LES 127-68-1, ADAM 127-68-1, KEVIN 122-73-1, ZACH 116-79-1

Bears Records by Opponent

The following is are the Chicago Bears records versus each of the current NFL teams. Included are results in regular season and postseason games.

When he was still with Golden State, Monta Ellis gave the Bulls fits. Elllis hit three foul shots with 1.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter to tie it, then made a go-ahead 3-pointer late in the second overtime that lifted the Dallas Mavericks past the Bulls 132-129 Tuesday night.Ellis finished with 38 points, including his trio of free throws to make it 108-all. He was fouled soon after crossing half-court, and kept the Mavs in the game.Derrick Rose banked in a 3-point at the overtime buzzer to force double OT.Ellis’ 3 put the Mavericks up 130-129, and Chandler Parsons added two foul shots. Rose missed a 3-point try as time expired.Dirk Nowitzki added 22 despite shooting just 8 for 22 as Dallas won its fourth in row.Pau Gasol led the Bulls with 29 points and 14 rebounds. Jimmy Butler had 23 points, Mike Dunleavy 20 and Rose 18.The Bulls had won two in a row. They dropped to 2-4 at the United Center in their first home game since Nov. 15 following a seven-game road trip.The Mavericks led 86-76 with 11 minutes to play. The Bulls rallied to take the lead, and Butler’s two foul shots made it 102-96 with 2:42 to go.Trailing 106-103, Dallas got the ball back with 14.6 seconds left. Instead of attempting a tying 3-pointer, Ellis drove for a two-point basket with 4.5 seconds to play.Gasol was fouled with 4.2 seconds remaining and made both free throws for a 108-105 edge.The Mavericks didn’t have any timeouts, so they had to go the length of the court. As Ellis crossed midcourt, Kirk Hinrich went in for an intentional foul.Ellis sensed it and immediately went into shooting position. He was awarded three free throws and made them all.Rose’s shot off the backboard from nearly straight away tied it at 121 at the end of the first OT.Former Bull Tyson Chandler was averaging 11.3 points and 11.3 rebounds.

NOTES—Doug McDermont missed his first game of the season with a sore right knee. The rookie said the knee swelled up during the plane ride back to Chicago on Sunday following the conclusion of the seven-game road trip. ”If I feel better tomorrow, I’ll play. It’s nothing serious at all.” … Taj Gibson missed his fifth straight game with a sprained left ankle. Although he is listed as day-to-day, he’s unlikely to play Wednesday at Charlotte because he hasn’t done any work with the team.

CORAL GABLES—Manu Lecomte caught a pass on the perimeter with no defender nearby, so he took his time sinking a 3-pointer, and then raised a fist toward the roar coming from Miami’s student section.Balanced offense and stout defense gave the fans plenty to cheer about Tuesday night, when the 15th-ranked Hurricanes won a matchup of unbeaten teams, beating Illinois 70-61 in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.Three guards scored in double figures for the Hurricanes, including freshman Deandre Burnett with a season-high 19 points.

”They were really hard to guard,” Illinois coach John Groce said. ”They put four guards out there a lot, they spread the floor and they made good plays.”

Burnett, limited by a knee injury at the start of the season, became the fourth player to lead the young Hurricanes in scoring. Lecomte had 15 points and Sheldon McClellan added 14. Angel Rodriguez added nine points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals.

”Basketball is about balance,” Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. ”With this team, we have so many guards who play a lot and can handle the ball, they’re very good at sharing it and having good balance in our attack.”

Miami, which has never previously been ranked so high so early in a season, improved to 8-0.

”We’re not going to get caught up in the hype and the rankings and all that,” McClellan said. ”We’re just going to continue to improve each game.”

The Illini fell to 6-1 with their earliest loss in the past four years. They came into the game averaging 90 points, but shot only 33 percent, including 7 for 30 from 3-point range.Rayvonte Rice led the Illini with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and Malcolm Hill added 13 points, but the rest of the team shot 23 percent. Groce said poor shot selection was a culprit.

”I was proud of our guys – thank goodness they fought and their effort was really good, because the execution was awful,” Groce said. ”Our heart was in the right place. We just have to play a heck of a lot smarter.”

The Hurricanes won despite shooting only 38 percent, including 9 for 30 from 3-point range. But they went 17 for 21 at the free-throw line, while Illinois went 8 for 12.Miami was up 37-24 at halftime for its largest lead, but Illinois scored the first 10 points of the second half. The Illini cut the deficit to 48-46 but could get no closer.Three-pointers by Omar Sherman – his only basket – and Rodriguez helped the Hurricanes regain their cushion. They sealed the win by sinking five of six free throws in the final minutes, and in the closing seconds the crowd of 6,086 chanted, ”A-C-C! A-C-C!” Miami’s program is historically attendance-challenged, and Larranaga and his players had lobbied students to turn out for the game.

BROOKLYN—Jimmy Butler is proving that he is indispensable to the Bulls.Butler had 26 points and Pau Gasol added 25 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Bulls to a 102-84 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.Entering his fourth season in the NBA after the Bulls made him the last – and 30th – player chosen in the first round of the 2011 draft, Butler had previously totaled 20 or more points only nine times in 191 games. The 25-year-old has already eclipsed that mark this year, notching his 11th 20-plus point game.Wearing his favorite football jersey on a Sunday – an orange Denver Broncos Demaryius Thomas jersey – Butler downplayed his success after averaging 13.1 points last season.

”I think my teammates just find me in great positions to score the ball,” Butler said. ”I think I strive at just doing whatever it takes to help my team win. Scoring, guarding, facilitating, whatever it might be. I’m just a winner. I don’t care about stats.”

Rookie Bojan Bogdanovic led the Nets with 13 points and Jarrett Jack added 12.Derrick Rose had 14 points and reserve Nikola Mirotic chipped in 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Bulls, who capped a seven-game, 14-day road trip with their second straight win and finished 4-3 overall. The United Center had been reserved for the annual circus show, forcing the Bulls on the road.

”We ended on a good note. I think that was our best game throughout the entire trip,” Rose said. ”Coming here and ending like this, we have nothing but great vibes from it. We did a lot of positive things out there. We came together as a team defensively.”

The Bulls, who improved to 9-3 on the road this season, led 47-42 at beginning of the third quarter. After Brooklyn’s Kevin Garnett hit a five-foot bank jumper that made it 48-46, Gasol ignited a 17-4 run by scoring six of his eight points during the spurt to make it 56-46 with 8:13 left in the quarter.A turnover by Deron Williams led to Rose connecting with Butler for an alley-oop that made it 58-48. After Williams’ basket, Butler hit a turnaround jumper that extended the lead. Rose followed that with a 3-pointer and Gasol capped the run by beating the Nets players’ for a loose ball and making a layup, extending the lead, 65-50 with 5:11 left.During that run for the Bulls, their defense forced three turnovers and made the Nets miss three shots. Overall, the Bulls limited Brooklyn to 9-of-25 shooting from the field, including 0 of 7 beyond the arc.

”We were just getting some easy baskets, getting up and down in transition. But more than anything we were just getting stops on the defensive end, creating a few turnovers and rebounding the basketball,” Butler said.

The Nets’ latest loss was their seventh in the last nine games. Brooklyn has yet to beat a team with a winning record this season. Three of their next four games are against teams with records above .500.

”Consciously, I don’t think we’re thinking of that,” Garnett said. ”I think we respect every team. We try to get ready for every team.”

Taj Gibson missed his fourth straight game due to a sprained left ankle. The Brooklyn native last played Nov. 21 at Portland. .The Bulls outrebounded the Nets 50-34. Mirotic, Gasol and Joakim Noah combined for 36, 30 of them on the defensive side.Garnett tied Jason Kidd for sixth place in NBA history with 1,391 games played.Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau was pleased with Rose being able to finish out his last two games. He played 27 minutes in the win at Boston on Friday. Against the Nets, Rose played 25 minutes and was replaced with team up 22 points with 3:17 left in the game. ”To me it’s moving in the right direction,” Thibodeau said.

”When he strings some games together, he practices well and he practices hard, he’s going to play well. It’s really that simple and it’s time to go.”

NOTES—The Bulls Return home to face the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.