Coby White scores 31 points as Bulls rally to beat Nets 116-110

CHICAGO (AP) — Coby White scored 31 points, and the Chicago Bulls beat the Brooklyn Nets 116-110 on Thursday night.

White extended his streak of 20-point games to a career-best seven, helping the Bulls rally to win their season-high fourth in a row.

Kevin Huerter added 18 points and nine rebounds, and Tre Jones scored 18 points. Julian Phillips set career highs with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Chicago is 10th in the Eastern Conference at 28-38 and holds the final play-in spot.

Cam Thomas led Brooklyn with 24 points and a career-high 10 assists, and Nic Claxton added 18 points and a season-best 14 rebounds. Tyrese Martin scored 19 points and Cam Johnson had 16, but the Nets lost for the 10th time in 12 games.

Nets: The Nets once again couldn't protect a lead, letting a 12-point advantage slip away after Cleveland rallied from 18 down in the third to beat them on Tuesday night.

Bulls: Josh Giddey sat out this one after spraining his right ankle against Indiana on Monday. The Bulls hope to get him back during a season-high, six-game trip.

The Nets led 92-80 in the closing minute of the third quarter, only to have the Bulls answer with a 17-3 run. Brooklyn then led 101-99 with 4 1/2 minutes remaining when Chicago reeled off eight straight points, with Jones’ reverse layup putting the Bulls up by six with just under three minutes remaining.

White is averaging 28.6 points in his past seven games.

Nets: Host Boston on Saturday.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com

Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton, left, fouls Chicago Bulls guard Coby White (0) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, March 13, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Chicago Bulls guard Coby White (0) shouts to a teammate during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Chicago Bulls guard Tre Jones (30) makes a shot during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Chicago Bulls guard Coby White (0) takes a free throw during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas (24), left, guards Chicago Bulls guard Coby White (0) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, March 13, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Chicago Bulls guard Tre Jones (30), right, and guard Coby White (0) celebrate their team's win over the Brooklyn Nets in an NBA basketball game Thursday, March 13, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A state appeals court is being asked to dismiss felony voter misconduct charges against an Alaska resident born in American Samoa, one of numerous cases that have drawn attention to the complex citizenship status of people born in the U.S. territory.

In arguments Thursday, attorneys for Tupe Smith plan to ask the Alaska Court of Appeals in Anchorage to reverse a lower court's decision that let stand the indictment brought against her. Her supporters say she made an innocent mistake that does not merit charges, but the state contends Smith falsely and deliberately claimed citizenship.

Prosecutors also have brought charges against 10 other people from American Samoa in the small Alaska community of Whittier, including Smith’s husband and her mother-in-law. American Samoa is the only U.S. territory where residents are not automatically granted citizenship by being born on American soil and instead are considered U.S. nationals. Paths to citizenship exist, such as naturalization, though that process can be expensive and cumbersome.

American Samoans can serve in the military, obtain U.S. passports and vote in elections in American Samoa, but they cannot hold public office in the U.S. or participate in most U.S. elections.

About 25 people gathered on a snowy street outside the courthouse before Thursday's hearing to support Smith. One woman, Fran Seager of Palmer, held a sign that said, “Support our Samoans. They are US nationals.”

Smith's husband, Michael Pese, thanked the American Samoa community in the Anchorage area. “If it wasn’t for you guys, I wouldn’t be strong enough to face this head on,” he said.

State Sen. Forrest Dunbar, a Democrat who attended the rally, said the Alaska Department of Law has limited resources.

“We should be going after people who are genuine criminals, who are violent criminals, or at least have the intent to deceive,” he said. “I do not think it is a good use of our limited state resources to go after these hardworking, taxpaying Alaskans who are not criminals.”

Smith was arrested after winning election to a regional school board in 2023. She said she relied on erroneous information from local election officials when she identified herself as a U.S. citizen on voter registration forms.

In a court filing in 2024, one of her previous attorneys said that when Smith answered questions from the Alaska state trooper who arrested her, she said she was aware that she could not vote in presidential elections but was “unaware of any other restrictions on her ability to vote.”

Smith said she marks herself as a U.S. national on paperwork. But when there was no such option on voter registration forms, she was told by city representatives that it was appropriate to mark U.S. citizen, according to the filing.

Smith “exercised what she believed was her right to vote in a local election. She did so without any intent to mislead or deceive anyone,” her current attorneys said in a filing in September. “Her belief that U.S. nationals may vote in local elections, which was supported by advice from City of Whittier election officials, was simply mistaken.”

The state has said Smith falsely and deliberately claimed citizenship. Prosecutors pointed to the language on the voter application forms she filled out in 2020 and 2022, which explicitly said that if the applicant was not at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen, “do not complete this form, as you are not eligible to vote.”

The counts Smith was indicted on “did not have anything to do with her belief in her ability to vote in certain elections; rather they concerned the straightforward question of whether or not Smith intentionally and falsely swore she was a United States citizen,” Kayla Doyle, an assistant attorney general, said in court filings last year.

One of Smith's attorneys, Neil Weare, co-founder of the Washington-based Right to Democracy Project, said by email last week that if the appeals court lets stand the indictment, Alaska will be “the only state to our knowledge with such a low bar for felony voter fraud.”

Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska.

Michael Pese and his wife, Tupe Smith, stand outside the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, ahead of the Alaska Court of Appeals hearing a challenge to the voter fraud case brought against her by the state. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Michael Pese, left, his wife, Tupe Smith, and their son Maximus pose for a photo outside the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, ahead of the Alaska Court of Appeals hearing a challenge to the voter fraud case brought against her by the state. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

FILE - Tupe Smith poses for a photo outside the school in Whittier, Alaska, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)