Rose, Gasol return as Bulls win

It was Game 4 of the Bulls' circus road trip and all were not well.

But a couple of players returned from injuries, at least. Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol were back in the starting lineup against Utah on Monday night.

The Bulls needed all the help they could get in this one. After squandering a 21-point lead, the Bulls had to rally in the final minutes to beat the Jazz 97-95 at Energy Solutions Arena.

Trailing by a point in the final minute, the Jazz turned it over with a bad pass. Jimmy Butler sprinted downcourt and had his fastbreak layup attempt blocked by Alec Burks, but Mike Dunleavy was there for the easy putback with 22.3 seconds left.

That turned out to be the game-winner. On Utah's next trip, Derrick Favors missed a foul-line jumper. The rebound bounced around on the floor before getting tied up, and Tony Snell won the ensuing jump ball against Trey Burke.

Gasol went to the line and hit 1 of 2 free throws with 3.2 seconds left. He made up for the miss by getting a hand in the face of Gordon Hayward's whose potential game-winning 3-pointer clanged off the front rim as time expired.

Butler led the Bulls with 25 points, Gasol had 23, and Rose scored 18. The Bulls shot 50 percent from the field but gave up too many offensive rebounds, especially in the second half.

"I thought we were loose in the second half but found a way to win at the end," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "I thought we did a lot of good things to build the lead."

Butler not only led the Bulls (9-5) in scoring, he helped limit Utah's top scorer, Gordon Hayward, to just 6 points.

"Jimmy was unbelievable throughout the game," Thibodeau said. "You can't say enough about Jimmy. To me, he's playing at an incredibly high level on both ends of the floor. He makes big play after big play.

"His defense to start the game was incredible. That got us some easy baskets. He plays at an incredibly high intensity level all the time. That's how he practices. That's how he plays. He doesn't take any possessions off. He's into it, and it shows."

Rose returned after missing four games with a left-hamstring strain and started the game red-hot, scoring 10 points in the first four minutes. The Bulls followed his lead and raced to a 30-14 advantage at the end of one quarter.

The lead peaked at 21 points midway through the second quarter and stood at 56-41 at halftime.

Gasol was back after missing three games with a left-calf strain. He hit 11 of 20 shots from the field, adding 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Kirk Hinrich (chest contusion) and Taj Gibson (sprained left ankle) missed Monday's game.

Aaron Brooks and Nikola Mirotic each scored 10 points off the bench. Brooks hit a long 3-pointer to give the Bulls an 87-84 lead with six minutes left. Utah came back with 5 straight points, taking an 89-87 advantage with 4:27 left on Enes Kanter's 3-point play, and the Bulls were scrambling to stay in the game.

After a Gasol jumper brought the Bulls within 2, Rose finished a tough, driving bank shot after getting hit by Kanter. His 3-point play put the visitors ahead 94-93 with two minutes left.

Butler was involved in a minor skirmish early in the fourth quarter. He was trying to cut along the baseline and got hip-checked out of bounds by Utah's Joe Ingles. Butler jumped off the floor and stood menacingly over Ingles, who also fell to the ground.

Nothing really happened beyond that, but Butler was given a technical foul. Inlges argued that Brooks pushed him into Butler, and he might have had a point.

Throughout the fourth quarter, though, Butler was booed every time he touched the ball by the Salt Lake City crowd.

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