Less than a month after the Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets clashed in consecutive games, the teams will meet again Monday with the Bulls sporting an entirely different look.

On Jan. 18, the Bulls dominated in a 124-102 home win over the Brooklyn Nets that started a four-game winning streak. The run of success got Chicago to one game over .500 at 23-22.

Since then, though, the Bulls’ roster underwent a massive makeover, and the revamped version will attempt to halt a four-game skid when they visit the Nets on Monday night in New York.

The Nets had Dec. 3 and Jan. 16 victories over the Bulls before Chicago broke through in the season series. Seven players hit double figures in Chicago’s victory, but Nikola Vucevic, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu and Kevin Huerter were among those traded as last week’s deadline arrived.

The deals resulted in Anfernee Simons, Jaden Ivey, Collin Sexton, Rob Dillingham, Nick Richards and Leonard Miller joining a team that was in the play-in round in each of the previous three seasons.

The Bulls are 1-7 since their four-game winning streak and 19-29 since opening the season with a five-game winning streak.

Chicago allowed opponents to shoot 53.7% overall, 46.8% from 3-point range and 54.5% in the paint during double-digit losses to the Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors and Denver Nuggets.

In Saturday’s 136-120 loss to the visiting Denver Nuggets, the Bulls allowed a season-worst 57.6% from the field that included 68.2% in the fourth when they were outscored 39-16.

“The defense was not good (in the fourth quarter),” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. “We’re going to make some mistakes. The guys are all playing together (but) guys are forgetting plays. The spacing may not (be there). It’s going to happen, but we’ve got to get much, much better defensively.”

Chicago allowed its third-most points of the season while getting mixed results from its newcomers offensively. Sexton scored 17 in his debut, Simons and Richards added 15 apiece, while Guerschon Yabusele finished with 12 and Ivey had 10. The seven newbies who played combined for 17 assists and 12 turnovers while shooting 42.2% (27 of 64) from the field.

The Nets are 4-18 over their past 22 games, but coming off one of their better showings of late to create the rare opportunity for consecutive victories. On Saturday, the Nets took control in the first quarter, led by as many as 34 and recorded a 127-113 home victory over the Washington Wizards, who suited up eight available players.

Brooklyn scored 80 points in the first half, its most since a 91-point opening half against the Golden State Warriors on Dec. 21, 2022. The Nets shot a season-best 54.9%, scored a season-high 66 points in the paint and tied a season-best with 36 assists.

“The message was there shouldn’t be distractions anymore, and this is who we are,” Brooklyn rookie Danny Wolf said. “Guys did a great job buying into the game plan.”

Michael Porter Jr. led seven in double figures with 20 of his 23 points in the first half. Day’Ron Sharpe tied a season-high with 19 points while the Nets saw three of their five rookies reach double figures.

Wolf finished with 16, Nolan Traore added 15 while starting in the backcourt with fellow rookie Egor Demin and Ben Saraf finished with 10.

–Field Level Media

NBC has finalized an All-Star team for its return to MLB coverage this season, confirming the additions of recently retired players Clayton Kershaw, Anthony Rizzo and Joey Votto to its broadcast team.

The trio of players, who combined to earn 20 All-Star Game nods, all will be used during coverage on exclusive wild-card playoff games that air on NBC and Peacock. They will also be used on select pregame shows for Sunday Night Baseball on the network and streaming service.

NBC is taking over Sunday night baseball coverage from ESPN after agreeing to a three-year, $600 million contract last fall. The network also has exclusive rights to air the wild-card playoff round.

NBC previously announced that veteran sportscaster Bob Costas is returning to host the “Sunday Night Baseball” pregame show this season. Costas was the play-by-play voice of baseball on NBC from 1982-89 and 1994-2000. The network hasn’t had MLB broadcast rights since 2000.

Votto, 42, was the 2010 NL MVP and spent 17 seasons with the Cincinnati Reds. The six-time All-Star hit 356 home runs and drove in 1,144 runs.

Kershaw, 37, retired from the Los Angeles Dodgers after the 2025 season. A three-time World Series champion and 11-time All-Star, he won three NL Cy Young Awards and was the 2014 MVP with a 21-3 record and a 1.77 ERA.

Rizzo, 36, played 14 seasons with the San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees and was part of the Cubs’ 2016 championship team. He won four Gold Glove awards at first base and was an All-Star three times.

–Field Level Media

Next on the to-do list for the Charlotte Hornets is picking up their 10th consecutive victory.

That will be the objective against the visiting Detroit Pistons on Monday night.

“It means the world because I’ve been through a lot with this team,” Hornets forward Miles Bridges said. “I’ve been through the lows, I’ve been to the play-in, and now I think we’re at the highest of our highs and want to keep going.”

It seems different even from rookie guard Kon Knueppel’s vantage point.

“We’re playing meaningful basketball, meaningful games,” Knueppel said. “And so every game, it’s going to be kind of looking at the standings and all that, and we’re battling for playoff position as we hit the home stretch of the season after the All-Star break.”

When the Hornets won 126-119 Saturday night at Atlanta, Bridges had 26 points and Knueppel had 23 points. Knueppel made six 3-point shots. That matched the Charlotte franchise’s longest winning streak since the 1998-99 season.

The Hornets also claimed the longest active winning streak in the NBA.

The Pistons have been humming along as well, winners of six of their last eight games. That includes Friday night’s 118-80 home rout of the New York Knicks.

The Pistons hold the best record in the Eastern Conference, so this should be a challenge for the Hornets along the lines of their Jan. 31 home win over San Antonio and Thursday’s win at Houston.

“We’ve shown that we can beat teams that are good teams, playoff teams, and we want to keep that going,” Bridges said.

Charlotte has shown necessary elements that would allow it to rise in the standings. The Hornets have climbed from 12th to 10th in the Eastern Conference — the final play-in spot — during their winning streak.

“It’s about learning along the journey and embracing every part that comes with it,” Hornets coach Charles Lee said. “… The care factor in that locker room between the players. The ability to want to adapt. We’ve thrown a lot of different lineups at them.”

Cade Cunningham has been the big source of offense for Detroit, leading the team in scoring in five of the last eight games. He averages 25.1 points and 9.7 assists per game.

The Hornets will have to be attentive defensively, where they’ve shown improvement.

“The communication got better, our defensive execution and coverages were a lot cleaner,” Lee said of the most-recent game. “The physicality on the boards, it takes all five guys to participate.”

The Pistons also are working to see how newly acquired Kevin Huerter fits into the plans. He played late in the Knicks game and provided eight points in eight minutes.

“I don’t want to put him into a situation where he’s uncomfortable and he can’t succeed,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said.

Huerter played briefly in that game without a practice with the team. So the weekend should have provided an opportunity to groom him for whichever role he lands with the Pistons.

“We need to get some time so he can be successful when his number is called,” Bickerstaff said.

The Pistons will monitor the status of Jaren Duren, the team’s No. 2 scorer (17.7 ppg) and leading rebounder (10.5 rpg) who missed Friday’s game because of knee soreness.

On Monday, Detroit begins a stretch of four consecutive road games that will be interrupted by the All-Star break.

–Field Level Media