Bulls top Jazz despite late-game drama |
SALT LAKE CITY - Heading into this four-game West Coast road trip, most Chicago Bulls (30-32) fans would've been happy to go 2-2. This was also one of those trips that many felt could make or break this team's potential quest to make the playoffs this season, as their schedule gets more challenging from here.
Say what you want about the Utah Jazz (28-35). They may have been shorthanded with guys like Lauri Markkanen out, but they still had to play in Utah, which has historically been one of the toughest places to play in the NBA. As you have seen so much this season, the Bulls certainly didn't make it easy on themselves, as they have a tendency to play down to their competition. That nearly cost them in this one, as they led by double digits most of the game until the fourth quarter when the Jazz started to rally and managed to tie the game late. That was until Mr. Fourth Quarter Demar DeRozan cashed in with two free throws late to seal the game and give Chicago the 119-117 win. The win guarantees the Bulls will finish this road trip with at least a .500 record, which is all you can ask for from a West Coast trip. While the win is nice, things got chippy late as a scuffle broke out with less than 10 seconds to go resulting in a Bulls technical and several other fouls. That technical allowed Jordan Clarkson to tie things up before DeRozan capped things off from the line. When you talk about a dominating performance, most of this game was just that for the Bulls, as they practically led the Jazz wire to wire. In fact, Utah had the lead for a total of 33 seconds, as this was one of those games where Chicago was dialed in from the start. Making 17 three-pointers will do that for you, but only three of those makes came in the second half, as Chicago went through some of their offensive struggles again. For the second game in a row, DeRozan came through when the game mattered, which is all you can ask for from your star players. After an up-and-down first half, DeRozan got things rolling in the second half and finished with a game-high 29 points. 17 of those points came in the final 12 minutes, as he was their offense down the stretch. When the Bulls are at their best, DeRozan plays well and gets plenty of support across the board, which was the case last night. All it took for Coby White to get back on track was a career-high against the Sacramento Kings on Monday, as he responded with 17 first-half points. White cooled down a bit in the second half, but with seven made triples, he finished with 25 points. Nikola Vucevic ended a bit of a mini-slide in the last several games to finish with 23 points and 12 boards as the Big Three of the Bulls went to work. While those three were the primary focus for the Bulls offensively, Chicago had some production from several other players, including Alex Caruso, picking up 11 and Andre Drummond adding 10 points off the bench to lead that second unit. Jalen Carter (seven points) and Julian Phillips (six points) also came up with some good minutes off the bench, which was huge considering the struggles by Ayo Dosunmu, who finished with just eight points but added nine points. Since trading away Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, this Jazz squad has gone into a mini rebuild, but to their credit, they remain competitive. Having Markkanen is a big reason for that, but without him in the lineup, the Jazz were missing a huge piece. They still have Collin Sexton, who did his best Mitchell impression with five triples to finish with 24 points. Sexton has been known for having big games against Chicago, and Wednesday was another one of those nights. While Markkanen may have been out of the lineup, John Collins wasn't, and he took it upon himself to put forth one of his better games this season. Despite a slow start to the game, Collins took over in the second half to lead the Jazz with 25 points and added 13 points. Like the Bulls, Utah had plenty of balanced scoring across the board which included Brice Sensabaugh and his 15 point, 12 rebound double and Clarkson coming away with 15 points off the bench. Clarkson is one of those players having a great year. He has bounced between starter and role player this season but has been more consistent coming off the bench. Former Bull Kris Dunn added 11 points, with Omer Yurtseven closing out the double-digit scorers with 10 points off the bench in the loss. Chicago will be back in action tonight against the Golden State Warriors as they try to clinch a winning road trip and inch closer to .500. With 20 games left in the season, the Bulls are currently sitting in the No.9 spot in the Eastern Conference, but they have a 2.5-game lead over the Hawks for the final playoff spot and a five-game lead from being out of the race.
