Bulls' formula of digging first-half deficit starting to cause headaches

NEW YORK — It’s not exactly the ‘‘40 minutes of hell’’ that former coach Nolan Richardson’s Arkansas teams famously used to throw at opponents, but Bulls coach Billy Donovan has no problem settling for ‘‘24 minutes of headaches.’’

Sometimes, however, those headaches are his own.

The Bulls were in a familiar place Friday against the Nets. They dug themselves a big deficit, used their depth to come back in the second half, then hoped to finish strong.

Two boxes got checked.

Thanks to 32 points by Cam Thomas, including 10 in the fourth quarter, the Bulls watched their comeback from a 17-point deficit fall short, losing to the Nets 120-112.

‘‘It’s been kind of the theme for our year so far,’’ Bulls guard Josh Giddey said afterward. ‘‘Find ourselves in 15-, 20-point holes and have to crawl back. Credit to the group because the last three games we have come back out of the hole and given ourselves a chance to win games. Same with [Friday].

‘‘I think in the fourth we just had too many defensive breakdowns. I think if we stop getting ourselves in these holes, we’re going to put ourselves in a much better position to win.’’

Obvious? Sure. But putting it into practice has been difficult.

‘‘We’re fighting our way back, and we’re doing that,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘We’ve got to be better in utilizing each other more. I didn’t think we moved the ball on penetration like we had been doing.’’

That showed up late.

With the Bulls trailing by six after Thomas made a 25-footer with 2:33 left, Zach LaVine drove to the basket despite three defenders surrounding him and got his shot blocked. LaVine had another opportunity to cut into the deficit 15 seconds later but missed an open 12-footer.

Thomas made another three-pointer with 1:35 left to put the Bulls on the ropes, and when Giddey turned the ball over on the next possession, it was a knockout.

While there was a lot Donovan wasn’t thrilled about in the first half, the Bulls’ shot profile didn’t fall under that category.

Thanks to LaVine and Coby White combining for nine three-pointers, the Bulls tied a franchise record with 14 threes in a half.

But while shooting 56% from three-point range usually puts a team in a pretty good spot, there were more red flags than pats on the back in the first half, starting with the Bulls’ defense.

The Bulls trailed 68-60 at the half after being outscored 38-14 in the paint. And then there were the turnovers. It wasn’t quite the number of giveaways they had in losses to the Pelicans and Thunder, but nine still were too many for Donovan’s liking.

Just as the Bulls’ oppponets did in the last two games, however, the Nets hit a wall in the third quarter. The pace of ‘‘Billy ball’’ seemed to catch up with them, as they shot only 2-for-12 from three in the quarter after going 7-for-16 in the first half.

Just like that, it was a game again, with the Bulls (3-3) outscoring the Nets 30-24 in the quarter.

Too many defensive breakdowns in the fourth, however, ruined the Bulls’ chance for a third consecutive victory.

‘‘I thought the most important point going into the game was who could handle closeouts better,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘Meaning, could we defend them on a closeout situation or could they defend us? We really had a hard time containing the basketball.’’

Donovan got his answer, and it was one he didn’t like.