Gobert Leads Jazz To 114-83 Romp Over Bulls
CHICAGO (AP) — Rudy Gobert had 21 points and 14 rebounds, and the Utah Jazz rolled to one of their most lopsided wins of the season, beating the Chicago Bulls 114-83 Saturday night.
The 31-point margin of victory was just three shy of Utah's season high. The Jazz raced out to a 70-36 halftime lead and never looked back in winning for the sixth time in seven games.
Gobert dominated inside, making 9 of 11 shots and blocking four.
Donovan Mitchell added 16 points and eight rebounds. Derrick Favors scored 13. And the Jazz made about half of their shots, with Chicago offering little resistance.
Lauri Markkanen led Chicago with 18 points and 10 rebounds. He made just 6 of 20 shots, and the Bulls delivered one of their worst performances in a rough season.
It didn't help that they were again missing two of their best players, with Otto Porter Jr. (strained right rotator cuff) and leading scorer Zach LaVine (bruised right thigh, right knee tendinitis) sidelined. But Chicago seemed disinterested right from the start. And the Jazz took advantage.
Their most lopsided victory this season was a 139-105 romp over San Antonio on Dec. 4. And it looked like they might surpass that, the way this one started.
There was no shortage of highlights as the Jazz put this one away in the first half.
There was Gobert blocking a layup by Markkanen in the second quarter and converting a layup off a no-look pass from Ricky Rubio driving the baseline.
Gobert had another neat block on Kris Dunn's fastbreak layup, setting up a break that Mitchell punctuated with a soaring dunk.
Things were so bad for the Bulls that fans cheered sarcastically when Dunn hit a 16-foot jumper with just under five minutes left in the half to stop a 17-0 run
TIP-INS
Jazz: Utah's highest scoring half was 81 points against Golden State on Oct. 17.
Bulls: Porter missed his third straight game and LaVine missed his second in a row. ... The Bulls have ruled out injured rookies Wendell Carter Jr. (left thumb surgery) and Chandler Hutchison (right toe injury) for the remainder of the season. Carter and Hutchison each appeared in 44 games. The No. 7 pick, Carter averaged 10.3 points and 7 rebounds, while Hutchison averaged 5.2 points and 4.2 rebounds after getting drafted 22nd overall.
UP NEXT
Jazz: Host Phoenix on Monday.
Bulls: Visit Toronto on Tuesday.
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