Bulls Hang On To Beat Jazz, 97-95
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Jimmy Butler scored 25 points and Pau Gasol added 23 points and nine rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 97-95 victory over the Utah Jazz on Monday night.
Derrick Rose scored 18 points in his return to the Bulls' lineup. Chicago beat the Jazz for ninth time in the last 12 games between the two teams.
Derrick Favors scored 21 points and pulled down a season-high 15 rebounds for Utah, which rallied from a 21-point deficit, but couldn't close it out. Enes Kanter had 19 points and eight rebounds while Trey Burke had 18 and 10 assists.
Utah took its first lead of the game early in the fourth quarter when Trevor Booker made a layup to put the Jazz up 80-78.
Chicago briefly retook an 87-84 lead when Aaron Brooks drained a 3-pointer. Utah answered by scoring seven unanswered points, going up 91-87 on a running jumper from Favors with 3:30 left.
The Bulls retook a 96-95 lead on Mike Dunleavy's putback basket with 22.5 seconds remaining. Gasol then hit 1-of-2 free throws after winning possession on a jump ball with 3.2 seconds remaining. Utah had a final shot, but Hayward's game winner fell short at the buzzer.
Chicago used stifling defense to take control early in the first quarter. Utah committed four turnovers in the first four minutes, and Chicago open the game by scoring nine unanswered points, taking a 16-4 lead on Jimmy Butler's layup off a steal.
The Jazz struggled to find an offensive rhythm throughout the quarter with Chicago scoring 13 points off Utah's eight turnovers. The Jazz managed to cut the lead to eight, making it 20-12 on a layup from Joe Ingles with 4:05 left in the quarter.
The Bulls took their largest first half lead when Tony Snell made back-to-back baskets to make it 45-24 with 6:13 remaining in the half.
The Jazz rallied in the third quarter, cutting Chicago's lead to 73-72 with 1:26 left in the quarter when Trey Burke completed a 3-point play and Joe Ingles buried a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.