FINAL FROM THE UNITED CENTER:
Utah 102, Bulls 98 (Bulls: 13-22, 7-12 at home)
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: LaVine: 26 pts. Utah: Bogdanovic: 19pts
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Carter: 13. Utah: Gobert: 12
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: LaVine: 5. Utah: Ingles: 10
STAT OF THE NIGHT: Bojan Bogdanovic went 0-5 from three-point range but was perfect from the foul line (9-9).
RECAP: The Jazz made plays at crunch time and the Bulls came up short. Zach LaVine did his best to carry the Bulls but Utah's Rudy Gobert had other plans on the defensive side. LaVine missed a drive to the rim on the left baseline as Gobert, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, did just enough to seal the win for the Jazz winners of nine of their last ten games.
Wendell Carter Jr was terrific with an 18 point - 13 rebound - 4 assist game. LaVine led all scorers with 26. Gobert was terrific with a 17-12-3 block shots game.
IN THE LOCKER ROOM: Coach Boylen, "Zach's made that play at the end before. He's done it. We're going to keep putting him in those situations and we're going to keep believing in him."
UP NEXT: Home with Boston Saturday.
24 SECONDS NBA NEWS AND NOTES:
Miami 84, Toronto 76: The Heat improved to 16-1 at home. The Raps went 6-42 from three-point range.
Denver 124, Indiana 116: Michael Porter Jr. is doing some serious hoopin'. Porter scored a season-high 25 points (11-12fgs).
Dallas 123, Brooklyn 111: Luka Doncic scored 15 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter. The Mavs got the win as they started a six-game homestand. The Mavs host the Bulls Monday.
Minnesota 99, Golden State 84: Both teams were missing "A" list stars as the T-Wolves led by as many as 22 points in the first half.
Oklahoma City 109, San Antonio 103: OKC finally won a road game in San Antonio. The Thunder ended a nine-game slide in the Texas city. OKC has won four straight.
Charlotte 109, Cleveland 106: The Hornets' Devonte Graham hit a big three-ball with 26 seconds left.
Sacramento 128, Memphis 123: The Kings erased a 20 point deficit. De'Aaron Fox scored 10 of his 27 points in the final five minutes as the Kings ended an eight-game losing streak.
Los Angeles Clippers 126, Detroit 112: Paul George left the game due to left hamstring tightness.
Zion Williamson went through a full practice with the Pelicans. It remains to be seen when he'll make his NBA debut.
A huge loss for the Orlando Magic as they lost the services of Jonathan Isaac for at least two months with a knee injury.
ESPN is reporting Caris LeVert is expected to return to the Nets lineup Saturday against the Raps. He has missed the last seven weeks with a thumb injury.
Sacramento Kings center Dewayne Dedmon has been fined $50,000 by the NBA for public statements detrimental to the NBA and its teams. The fine is for statements that were made by Dedmon concerning his desire to be traded by the Kings.
Mavs Coach Rick Carlisle announced there is no timetable for the return of Kristaps Porzingis (soreness-right knee) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (left hamstring strain).
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