That's eight losses in nine games for the Bulls (7-12), including the last two at home against struggling teams. Facing the Raptors and Nets was supposed to get the Bulls jump-started but instead set them further back.

''Losing by [32] at home and then following it up with a performance like this, we can't play like that,'' forward Luol Deng said.

''We're competing in spurts, but we're not giving 100 percent for 48 minutes,'' center Joakim Noah said. ''I think that right now it's not as much about our opponent as it is about us. We've got to look at each other in the mirror and just realize we have to go out there and compete.''

The Bulls did compete in spots and produced some strong individual performances, led by Derrick Rose with 27 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. Deng had 27 points and nine rebounds, and rookie Taj Gibson had a season-high 20 points.

The Nets (2-19), who've won two of three under new coach Kiki Vandeweghe, were led by Brook Lopez with 25 points and 10 rebounds and Chris Douglas-Roberts with 20 points.

Aside from the first quarter, the Bulls trailed virtually the entire game. New Jersey took an 80-70 lead into the fourth quarter, and the crowd of 17,872 grew even more frustrated when the Bulls began the quarter by missing four consecutive free throws.

But they stepped up their effort on the defensive end, holding the Nets scoreless for the first 4:12, and produced a run of nine consecutive points to make it 80-79. After Lopez broke the New Jersey drought, Deng hit a three-pointer from the right corner for a tie at 82 with 7? minutes to play.

They finally took the lead, 94-93, on an eight-foot floater by Rose -- who had 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting in the fourth quarter -- with 2:55 to go.

But the Bulls came up empty on three straight possessions as New Jersey took a 99-94 lead with under two minutes to go.

The Bulls , though, rallied again and took a 100-99 lead on a Rose floater with 19.5 seconds left. But the advantage was short-lived. Devin Harris (17 points) hit a similar shot at the other end over Rose to give the Nets a one-point lead.

After a timeout, the Bulls again had a chance to go back on top, but John Salmons missed a three-pointer, giving the ball back to New Jersey with 7.1 seconds left.

That wasn't the first option on the play.

''Get the ball to Derrick at the top and let him go at the rim similar to what he did on the play before,'' Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said of the play he wanted. ''[The Nets] overplayed it a little bit. It didn't look like we set very good screens, and we gave up on that and went to option B.''

Del Negro was asked if his job security was an issue now.

''I go to work every day and do the best to try and develop these guys,'' he said.

''Those are questions for [the front office]. We're fighting with what we have. We'll keep on fighting. Those decisions aren't up to me.''

THE RECAP

New Jersey 26 28 26 23--103

Bulls 24 30 16 31--101

Nets min fg-a ft-a o-t a pf pts

Dgls-Rbts 36:38 10-20 0-1 0-3 1 1 20

Boone 28:54 3-4 0-0 5-10 0 2 6

Lopez 38:29 9-14 7-8 5-10 2 4 25

Harris 40:01 5-12 5-7 1-4 6 4 17

Lee 34:00 3-13 6-6 0-4 3 3 12

Dooling 13:50 1-6 0-0 0-0 0 1 2

Simmons 13:18 0-3 2-2 0-3 4 0 2

Alston 16:42 5-8 4-4 0-3 2 0 15

Battie 15:10 2-4 0-0 0-2 0 5 4

Hassell 2:59 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 240:01 38-84 24-28 11-39 18 20 103

Percentages: FG .452, FT .857. 3-Point Goals: 3-20, .150 (Harris 2-6, Alston 1-1, Dooling 0-3, Douglas-Roberts 0-3, Simmons 0-3, Lee 0-4). Team Rebounds: 10. Team Turnovers: 14 (9 PTS). Blocked Shots: 9 (Douglas-Roberts 3, Boone 2, Battie, Harris, Lee, Lopez). Turnovers: 13 (Harris 5, Douglas-Roberts 3, Alston 2, Lopez 2, Dooling). Steals: 14 (Harris 4, Dooling 3, Alston 2, Lee 2, Lopez 2, Douglas-Roberts). Technical Fouls: None.

Bulls min fg-a ft-a o-t a pf pts

Deng 36:01 10-17 5-6 3-9 2 4 27

Miller 17:45 2-5 0-0 0-3 1 3 4

Noah 41:13 3-6 1-1 5-9 4 4 7

Rose 42:15 13-23 1-4 2-7 10 2 27

Salmons 38:29 4-12 2-2 2-6 2 0 12

Gibson 35:50 8-12 4-8 4-6 2 5 20

Pargo 15:28 1-8 2-2 0-0 0 1 4

Johnson 11:53 0-5 0-0 0-3 1 2 0

Hunter 1:06 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 240:00 41-88 15-23 16-43 22 21 101

Percentages: FG .466, FT .652. 3-Point Goals: 4-12, .333 (Deng 2-3, Salmons 2-5, Johnson 0-1, Rose 0-1, Pargo 0-2). Team Rebounds: 13. Team Turnovers: 19 (20 PTS). Blocked Shots: 10 (Noah 5, Gibson 3, Johnson, Rose). Turnovers: 17 (Deng 3, Johnson 3, Noah 3, Rose 3, Salmons 2, Gibson, Miller, Pargo). Steals: 8 (Salmons 3, Noah 2, Deng, Johnson, Rose). Technical Fouls: Defensive three second, 2:18 first.

Officials--Joe DeRosa, Brian Forte, John Goble. A--17,872 (20,917). T--2:23.