Bulls beat Nets 124-102 to split home-and-home set

CHICAGO (AP) — Coby White scored 24 points, Ayo Dosunmu had 19 and the Chicago Bulls beat the Brooklyn Nets 124-102 on Sunday night to split a home-and-home set.

The Nets won the opener 112-109 on Friday night in Brooklyn.

Nikola Vucevic added 17 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for Chicago. Matas Buzelis also scored 17 points.

Nolan Traore scored 16 points for Brooklyn. Danny Wolf and Jalen Wilson each had 14. The Nets have lost nine of 11.

Dosunmu had 3-pointers at the beginning and end of a 10-0 run late in the first quarter to help the Bulls take a 39-22 lead into the second. Chicago led 70-51 at the half and the advantage stayed above 20 points for most of the second half.

The Bulls average more than 20,000 fans at the United Center, but there were plenty of empty seats at tip-off, which came 30 minutes after the Los Angeles Rams and Bears kicked off their NFC division round game a few miles away at Soldier Field. The Bears’ first touchdown occurred just before an early timeout and got a loud roar from the crowd when a replay was shown on the video board.

Nets: Host Phoenix on Monday night.

Bulls: Host the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Brooklyn Nets' Nic Claxton (33) goes up to shoot against Chicago Bulls' Nikola Vucevic, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Brooklyn Nets' Nolan Traore (88) goes up for a shot during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Brooklyn Nets' Egor Demin (8) goes up for a shot against Chicago Bulls' Nikola Vucevic (9) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Brooklyn Nets' Jalen Wilson (22) goes up for a shot against Chicago Bulls' Nikola Vucevic (9) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Brooklyn Nets' Jalen Wilson (22) battles Chicago Bulls' Matas Buzelis (14) for a loose ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

The Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights added an offensive element to their blue line by acquiring defenseman Rasmus Andersson in a trade Sunday with the Calgary Flames.

In parting ways with a player eligible to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, the Flames acquired veteran defenseman Zach Whitecloud, defensive prospect Abram Wiebe, a conditional first-round pick in the 2027 draft and a conditional second-rounder in 2028. The Flames also agreed to retain 50% of the remainder of Andersson’s salary in the final season of a six-year, $27.3 million contract.

“To be able to get it done with Vegas, they were willing to do it and do it without a contract because that was one thing that was made clear to us just in the last, maybe 12 hours, was there wasn’t going to be an extension signed with any of the teams,” Flames general manager Craig Conroy said. “That definitely changed the way we had to negotiate and what we got back in return.”

It’s the latest aggressive move made by the Golden Knights after acquiring high-scoring forward Mitch Marner in a sign-and-trade deal with Toronto this offseason.

The 29-year-old Andersson, selected to represent Sweden at the Milan Cortina Games next month, was regarded as one of the highly prized candidates on the trade market. He’s spent all 10 NHL seasons with Calgary since being selected by the Flames in the second round of the 2015 draft.

Andersson has reached at least 30 points in each of his past four seasons, and already reached the plateau this year 10 goals and 20 assists. Overall, Andersson has 57 goals and 261 points in 584 NHL games.

The puck-moving player joins a Vegas defensive group missing Alex Pietrangelo, who stepped away from hockey due to health issues last summer, and with Brayden McNabb missing nine games with an upper-body injury.

Andersson is reunited with defenseman Noah Hanifin, who spent five-plus seasons in Calgary, before being traded to Vegas in March 2024.

Vegas has won seven straight, and coming off a 7-2 win over Nashville on Saturday night.

Whitecloud has two years left on a six-year, $16.5 million contract, and was one of the few remaining holdovers from the Golden Knights expansion season-roster in 2017-18. The 28-year-old was an undrafted free agent, has 23 goals and 78 points in 368 career games and won a Stanley Cup in 2023.

The Flames have won just three of eight, and sit 13th in the Western Conference standings, five points out of wild-card contention.

AP Sports Writer Mark Anderson in Las Vegas contributed to the report.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson (4) tangles with Boston Bruins center Alex Steeves (21) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Winnipeg Jets' Gabriel Vilardi (13) looks to make a pass as Vegas Golden Knights' Zach Whitecloud (2) defends during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson (4) handles the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Chicago Blackhawks, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)