They will try to become just the ninth of those teams to win the series.

In truth, the Nets have not beaten the Bulls in this first-round series so much as outlasted them, forcing them into a battle on two fronts, basketball and bodily harm. Without Kirk Hinrich (who missed his second game with a calf injury) and Luol Deng (who was a late scratch because of an illness), the Bulls were significantly disadvantaged.

Still, they battled with the Nets for 48 minutes, never giving an inch. The Nets grabbed a double-digit lead only once. The game could have gone either way in the fourth quarter.

“There is not a team in the league that plays harder than them,” Nets Coach P. J. Carlesimo said.

The Nets did not exactly make it easy on themselves. They missed 11 free throws and shot just 27.8 percent from the floor in the second half. They were outrebounded, 46-41, even though Chicago’s big men were in foul trouble for most of the second half.

But unlike in Game 4, when they coughed up a 14-point lead in the final three minutes, the Nets made just enough plays to hang on for a win.