Bulls-Jazz Preview

By JEFF BARTL
Posted Feb 08 2013 2:49AM

The Chicago Bulls' six-game road trip hasn't gone as well as they'd hoped, and ending it on a positive note won't come easy against a Utah Jazz team playing extremely well at home.

Utah seeks an 11th victory in its last 12 tries at EnergySolutions Arena while trying to send Chicago to a season worst-tying third straight defeat Friday night.

The Jazz (28-22) haven't played very well on the road, but a home-heavy stretch has helped them get back into the Western Conference playoff picture with the All-Star break approaching.

They improved to 19-5 at home with Wednesday's 100-86 win over Milwaukee, earning their ninth victory in their last 12 games as only one of their defeats has come at home in that stretch.

Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap scored 19 points apiece for Utah, which has held opponents to 40.6 percent shooting over its last four games.

"We're in a good little zone right now," Jefferson said. "We've just got to keep it up. We've got four more games left (before the All-Star break)."

Jefferson, averaging 22.5 points and 11.3 rebounds in his last eight games versus the Bulls, also lauded the effort of second-year center Enes Kanter, who scored 17 points off the bench after totaling nine in his last four games.

"Everybody knows he's mad talented. Everyone knows what he can do," Jefferson said. "Sometimes your body just (doesn't) want to agree with your mind. Sometimes you've just got to fight through it and I think he did that."

Coach Tyrone Corbin has been impressed recently with Alec Burks, who is seeing increased minutes off the bench at point guard with Mo Williams (thumb) and Earl Watson (leg) out with injuries.

Burks is a natural shooting guard, though Corbin said he's improving at the other guard spot.

"He's been huge," Corbin said. "If he hasn't been doing what he's been doing, we'd be in a bind right now. He's doing a tremendous job for us. It's a lot of pressure because we want to get up the floor quickly."

Millsap scored 26 points in a 111-97 loss March 10 in the most recent meeting with Chicago, which fell to 2-3 on its trip after being routed 128-96 by Denver on Thursday.

The Bulls (29-20) allowed the Nuggets to shoot 58.1 percent - the best an opponent has shot against them this season - and gave up their most points since a 132-108 loss to Utah on March 9, 2010.

"Until we change (our defense), the results aren't going to be good," Thibodeau said. "We're not containing the ball, not challenging shots. That makes it very difficult to win."

Joakim Noah scored only two points in his first game back after missing the last three due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot, and Chicago shot only 41.8 percent.

Carlos Boozer, who reportedly has been mentioned in trade discussions for Toronto forward Andrea Bargnani, scored 18 points.

Boozer scored a game-high 27 points in the Bulls' home win last March, and had 14 in February 2011 in his return to Salt Lake City after signing with Chicago in the summer of 2010.

The Bulls have won six of the last eight meetings with the Jazz, including two of the last three in Utah.

Boozer's big fourth lifts Bulls over Jazz

By LYNN DeBRUIN
Posted Feb 09 2013 3:32AM

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) After dealing with foul trouble most of the night, Carlos Boozer got mad.

He drew a technical after a no-call with 4:12 left. Then, he got even, leading the Chicago Bulls to a 93-89 victory over the Utah Jazz on Friday night.

"It was a good win for us," said Boozer, who played five years with the Jazz.

Boozer scored 19 points, including 11 straight in the fourth quarter, and the Bulls closed out a six-game road trip on a positive note. It sure felt better than 24 hours earlier, when the Bulls suffered a 32-point loss in Denver.

"Last night, we had a decent first half, but got blown out in the third quarter," Boozer said. "We all felt terrible. . (Friday) we did a good job of finishing."

It made up for Tom Thibodeau's worst loss as the Bulls' coach.

"We needed to bounce back," Thibodeau said. "We took a punch last night, but today we got up and fought. That is exactly what you have to do. You can't look backwards, you can't look ahead, you have to look at exactly what is in front of you."

The Bulls easily could have been looking at their third straight loss, especially with Al Jefferson hitting from everywhere.

Utah's big man had a season-high 32 points, going 4 of 4 in the third, then scoring the first eight in the fourth period to give the Jazz a 77-73 lead.

Boozer got rolling with about 5 minutes remaining.

His layup tied it at 83 with 2:29 left and he scored the next five from the free throw line, including a pair with 27 seconds left for an 88-85 Bulls lead.

Randy Foye's layup pulled Utah to 88-87 with 22 seconds to go, but Chicago sealed it at the foul line.

"I'm not sure he's the guy who beat us," Millsap said of Boozer, who he forced into early foul trouble. "They've got a whole team and they did a good job. Down the stretch, he hits a couple of shots, got fouled but that's not what lost us the game."

Jefferson and Millsap got little help from their teammates, with no bench players in double figures and Marvin Williams shooting 1 of 6.

As a team, Utah made shot 4 of 16 from beyond the arc.

The win came almost two years to the day that the Bulls beat Utah by six in the finale for Hall of Fame Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, who abruptly resigned the following afternoon.

Sloan was in the arena Friday.

He watched Jefferson put on a shooting clinic, hitting 15 of his first 20 shots, only to miss his final two after being forced a bit beyond his range.

"If he's making his shot like that he's unstoppable," Foye said. "You already know what he can do with his back to the basket."

Jeffferson said the team just needs to take better advantage when he is double-teamed and players are fronting him.

"I think we did for the most part, we had a chance to win," said Jefferson, who added 13 rebounds and two blocks. "Things just didn't go our way in the end."

The Jazz were down by 13 at one point, then held the Bulls to 11 points in the third quarter after giving up 58 in the first half.

Even after blowing a lead in the fourth, Utah had a chance late.

Millsap's step-back 3-pointer with 16.9 seconds left missed with Utah trailing 90-87. Luol Deng went 3 of 4 on free throws around a runner by Foye to clinch the victory for Chicago.

Millsap had 21 points for Utah, which had won four of five. Nate Robinson added 18 points for the Bulls.

Chicago led 58-50 going into halftime after shooting nearly 60 percent (24 of 41). The big difference in the first half was the play of Taj Gibson (5 of 6) and Marco Belinelli (3 of 4), who combined for 17 points off the bench before the break.

Early on, Utah's frontcourt duo of Jefferson and Millsap dominated, scoring 11 points each in the first quarter. Jefferson opened 4 of 5, spinning by Joakim Noah for a layup, dunking on him and then converting a three-point play to give Utah a 21-16 lead.

Millsap, meanwhile, went right at his former teammate, Boozer, forcing him into two early fouls.

It knocked Boozer out for a while, but not at the end.

"It was a good fight," Gibson said.

NOTES: Sloan's former top assistant, Phil Johnson, now works as a Jazz broadcaster but said he has no regrets about stepping down with Sloan, especially since he gets to stay in the game without all the travel. Recalling that night, when the Jazz lost to the Bulls, he said: "It was just time. It had stacked up during the course of the year and when he left I decided to go, too." ... Johnson doesn't find it the least bit strange that Sloan frequently attends games as a fan. "I think he'd like to coach again, so he keeps watching the games," Johnson said. "I think he'll get some jobs offered." ... Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin is 72-73 since taking over for Sloan. "There's been a lot of experiences from that time until now," Corbin said before the game about seeing a Hall of Fame coach resign and then All-Star point guard Deron Williams traded two weeks later. "We've grown a lot." ... Corbin on Jazz reserve Jeremy Evans being asked to defend his NBA Slam Dunk title: "He may jump over a van or something." ... Robinson was called for a technical with 3:09 left in the third, and Boozer got his own technical with 4:12 to play.

Notebook: Bulls 93, Jazz 89

Andrew Aragon, for NBA.com
Posted Sat Feb 09, 2013 2:34 AM - Updated Sat Feb 09, 2013 2:37 AM

THE FACTS: Carlos Boozer was the last person the majority of the EnergySolutions Arena crowd wanted to see beat the Utah Jazz.

Guess what? He beat them anyway.

Boozer, the former polarizing Jazzman, had 19 points and five rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 93-89 victory over Utah on Friday night. Boozer, whose play was mostly silenced while boos rained down on him during the first three quarters, came alive with the game on the line. He scored 11 straight points in the fourth quarter for Chicago, which wrapped up a six-game road trip on a positive note.

Al Jefferson had a game-high and season-high 32 points and 13 rebounds for the Jazz, who lost to an Eastern Conference opponent at home for just the second time in the last season and a half. Paul Millsap added 21 points for Utah.

QUOTABLE: "I am just glad we got the win. That is the thing we needed, we needed to bounce back. We took a punch last night, but we got up tonight and we fought. That is what you have to do. You can't look backwards, you can't look ahead, you have to look at exactly what is in front of you. It's been a long trip. Now we get a chance to gather, get home and correct."

-- Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau on his team bouncing back from a 128-96 loss to Denver on Thursday night.

THE STAT: Both teams shortened their rotations during the nationally televised contest, and Chicago got a bigger boost from its bench as it outscored Utah's 23-19. Taj Gibson (14 points) and Marco Belinelli (nine points) provided all of the scoring for the Bulls' bench. None of the Jazz's four reserves made much of an impact or scored in double figures, and Derrick Favors fouled out in the fourth quarter.

TURNING POINT: Boozer went on a personal 9-2 run to lift the Bulls past the Jazz. Trailing 83-79 and the Jazz holding onto the game's momentum, Boozer went to work. He made a layup and buried a jumper to tie the game. He then made a go-ahead free throw to put Chicago in the lead for good. Boozer missed his second free-throw attempt, but Luol Deng tracked it down. On the Bulls' next possession, Boozer drew a foul and sank two free throws. Millsap scored to make it 86-85, but Boozer drew another foul and made two more foul shots to keep Chicago in control with an 88-85 lead.

HOT: Boozer was plagued by foul trouble in the game's first three quarters -- and that actually played to his advantage. He had fresh legs while playing most of the fourth quarter. In addition to scoring 11 of his points, he collected four of his five rebounds in the final period. From start to finish, Gibson was Chicago's best player. He came off the bench to shoot 7-for-9 and grab eight rebounds. Nate Robinson got the Bulls off to a fast start, scoring 13 of his 18 points in the first half. He has scored in double figures in 13 straight games. Jefferson, the subject of trade rumors that intensified during the week, was the game's star for the first three and a half quarters. He made eight straight shots during one stretch.

NOT: The Bulls blew a 13-point first-half lead because they left their shooting touch in the locker room after halftime. They missed 11 of their first 12 shots, shot 5-for-23 overall and scored 11 points in the third quarter. Randy Foye's strength is his shooting, especially from 3-point range. But he was off against the Bulls, going 2-for-6 in 3-pointers and 4-for-11 overall. He also missed a technical free throw with 4:11 remaining that would have extended Utah's lead to three points. Marvin Williams continues to be in a funk. He shot 1-for-6, and missed key jumpers with the game tied at 83-83, as well as with the Jazz trailing 86-83.

QUOTABLE II: "It's weird for me to come back here because most of the people that were here when I was here aren't here anymore. The only one who's here is (Millsap). I had a good time in Salt Lake. Salt Lake was good to me when I was here."

-- Boozer

GOOD MOVE: Thibodeau has the reputation of being a defensive mastermind for good reason. Jefferson was torching the Bulls until the final five minutes when Thibodeau adjusted. He reinserted Joakim Noah into the lineup and put him on Jefferson. He also gave Noah help, and ran players at Jefferson when he got the ball where what had been his sweet spot -- near the free-throw line. Jefferson was forced to give the ball up, and didn't score in the game's final five minutes. Thibodeau forced someone else to beat his team, and no other Jazz player could on this night.

BAD MOVE: Millsap had an overall solid game, but made a couple of questionable decisions down the stretch. With the Jazz trailing 90-87, he attempted an ill-advised fadeaway from 3-point range with 17 seconds remaining. The shot was too rushed, and Utah probably could have worked to find a higher percentage attempt in the situation. Also, Millsap's defense on Boozer was subpar in the fourth quarter, which was unexpected considering the two had faced off in numerous practices through the years.

NOTABLE: Former Utah coach Jerry Sloan was in attendance. After the game, he had Jazz personnel inform Boozer that he'd like to say hi to him. Boozer then greeted Sloan outside of his locker room and the two talked briefly. Boozer didn't like that media members took notice of the meeting and as he walked back into his locker room said, "Can't do anything in privacy around here. You (expletives) are everywhere." ... Chicago is 7-2 in its last nine games against Utah. ... Deng (15 points, 10 rebounds) and Noah (12 points, 11 rebounds) each had double-doubles

UP NEXT: For the Bulls, Monday vs. San Antonio, Wednesday @ Boston, Feb. 19 @ Charlotte. For the Jazz, Saturday @ Sacramento, Tuesday vs. Oklahoma City, Wednesday @ Minnesota.

• Bulls: Hinrich, Rose
• Jazz: Bell, Williams

• Bulls: Boozer, Robinson
• Jazz: --

• Lead Changes: 8
• Times Tied: 8

• Arena: EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City, UT
• Officials: #27 Dick Bavetta, #41 Ken Mauer, #63 Derek Richardson
• Attendance: 19911
• Duration: 2:21