Bulls try playing from ahead and barely survive against Utah
The Bulls have made a habit lately of falling behind in games. On Wednesday in Utah, they tried playing from ahead for a change.
It definitely wasn't a comfortable feeling. The Bulls led by 10 early in the fourth quarter and by 7 with just under four minutes remaining.
The Bulls won 119-117 as Utah's Collin Sexton missed a good look at a corner 3-pointer just before the final buzzer. Alex Caruso fell down on the play, leaving Sexton open.
After DeMar DeRozan's three-point play put the Bulls up 117-114 with 1:01 remaining, a Caruso steal created a 2-on-1 fastbreak, but Ayo Dosunmu lost control of the ball on his way up to shoot the lay-in.
The Bulls missed another chance to extend the lead, then fouled Collin Sexton with 10.1 seconds left and his free throws brought Utah within 1.
The Jazz fouled DeRozan intentionally following a timeout and a skirmish broke out in front of the Bulls' bench. Torrey Craig, in street clothes, took exception to the level of contact Sexton and Jordan Clarkson gave DeRozan. Seconds later, Utah's John Collins got into it with Bulls assistant Chris Fleming, grabbing Fleming's neck at one point. After a video review, technical fouls were assessed on Craig, Fleming and Collins. Since the Bulls got two techs, Clarkson was given a free throw to tie the score.
Then DeRozan went to the line and knocked down both free throws to put the Bulls back ahead with 9.3 seconds left. Clarkson missed a 3, Coby White got the rebound, but his toe landed out of bounds as he hit the ground.
DeRozan scored 17 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter. White started out hot, hitting 7 of 11 3-point shots on the night, and scored 17 of his 25 in the first half, but took just one shot in the fourth quarter. Nikola Vucevic added 23 points and 12 rebounds.
Collins led Utah with 25 points. The Jazz was missing its top scorer, former Bull Lauri Markkanen, because of a right quad contusion.
The Bulls opened this four-game West Coast road trip with a comeback victory in Sacramento after trailing by 22 points late in the third quarter. In the two wins before that, the Bulls trailed Cleveland and New Orleans by 12 in each game.
Why does that keep happening? It's usually because a team either lacks focus or depth. In this case, it could be a little bit of both, but with the Bulls missing some key pieces, it generally has taken a huge effort from the starters to pull out victories.
With both Patrick Williams and Craig sidelined, they've been asking 6-foot-5 Alex Caruso to play power forward most of the time.
It's still a mystery why coach Billy Donovan doesn't utilize his bench players more often. White played 44 minutes in Sacramento on Sunday and has already reached a career high in minutes played. DeRozan, 34, still leads the NBA in minutes per game at 37.8. In fact, his average has risen during the past week.
Terry Taylor, the team's undersized power forward, has disappeared from the rotation. Second-year forward Dalen Terry also hasn't played in two straight games. Newly-signed Onuralp Bitim has come down to Earth a bit after a nice performance against the Cavs last week.
One player who’s been reliable off the bench is rookie forward Julian Phillips, but Donovan has kept him below 15 minutes on most nights. Phillips made the most of his 15 minutes of action in Utah with 6 points and 4 rebounds.
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