Nets get Big 3 back together, beat Bulls

NEW YORK — Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden were on the floor together for the first time in three months.

Barely two minutes later, they were back on the bench for a timeout, looking up a 12-0 deficit on the scoreboard.

The Brooklyn Nets shook off that slow start Saturday, beat the Chicago Bulls 105-91 and remained confident there’s enough time to turn into the team they expect.

“It’s been a long season, full of ups and downs when it comes to lineups and having all our guys on the same page,” Durant said, “but it was good to get everybody healthy, get some minutes with everybody and we’re going to keep building from here.”

The eighth appearance of the season for Brooklyn’s Big Three wasn’t particularly pretty. But the Nets had some sharp stretches and won their fourth straight, improving to 6-2 with their three All-Stars in the same game.

Irving scored 22 points, but Durant shot just 4 for 17 and finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Harden had seven assists, five points and five rebounds while playing 25 minutes in his second game back from a hamstring injury.

But Brooklyn got 19 points and five 3-pointers from Jeff Green, while Bruce Brown had 16 points and 12 rebounds. The Nets ensured they would remain second in the Eastern Conference heading into the final day of the regular season.

“Wasn’t a great game, we weren’t very sharp but we got the job done and move on to tomorrow,” coach Steve Nash said. “One last game.”

Patrick Williams scored 24 points for the Bulls, the highest total of his rookie season. Thaddeus Young added 19 points and 13 rebounds.

Chicago was eliminated from contention for the playin tournament Friday when Washington beat Cleveland, never mounting the run it hoped after acquiring Nikola Vucevic to pair with Zach LaVine.

Durant, Irving and Harden hadn’t played together since Feb. 13, in a victory at Golden State. Durant began a 23-game absence with a left hamstring injury in the next game, and Harden just returned this week from his own right hamstring injury that sidelined him 18 games.