Chicago Rookie James Johnson Leads Team to Big Win in London

Preseason basketball doesn't count, eh?

Don't tell that to rookie James Johnson or the Chicago Bulls who defeated the Utah Jazz in London's O2 Arena on Tuesday.

Johnson scored the game's winning basket as time expired to give the Bulls a 102-101 victory and set off a flurry of celebrations similar to as if it was March.

The closing moments of the contest saw Johnson experience both the highs and the lows of NBA basketball.

With the Bulls trailing by one, Johnson threw up a three point airball from the corner with 6.5 seconds remaining.

Fortunately for the Bulls, the Jazz couldn't come away with the loose ball. Instead, they could only knock it out of bounds to hand it back to Chicago for one final chance.

Seconds later Johnson was underneath the basket, beating Kirilenko to the rebound and throwing up a fall-away jumpshot as he fell back towards the Chicago bench.

Johnson finished the game with 18 points, eight rebounds and a pair of assists, although none of the rookie's points were more important than the deuce that found the bottom of the net as time expired.

The excitement wrapped up a dazzling fourth quarter which saw seven tied games and nine lead changes and which provided European fans with a great advert for the NBA.

The contest marked the third consecutive year the NBA has brought basketball to England, following the success of the Celtics-Timberwolves and Nets-Heat matches the previous two seasons.

After a closely-contested first quarter in front of the 18,000 fans at London's O2 Arena, the Bulls pulled away in the second and led by as many as 13 points.

Chicago, playing without Derick Rose (right ankle sprain), Jerome James (right achilles), Tyrus Thomas (hip) and John Salmons (personal problems) scored nine of their 11 fast break points in the second period as they moved the ball efficiently and maintained a more up tempo approach.

Utah, by contrast, adopted a more methodical approach, working the ball inside and scoring almost half of their points inside the paint.

Home favorite Luol Deng chipped in with 13 first-half points, five assists, two rebounds and a pair of blocks with Jannero Pargo adding another ten in 18 minutes of play as the Bulls pulled out to a 55-48 halftime lead.

The Jazz's frontcourt starters offered very little in the opening 24 minutes of play, with guards Deron Williams and Ronnie Brewer combining for just eight points, two rebounds and two assists.

Forward Wes Matthews brought the Jazz back into the game in the third quarter, scoring 11 points and leading a run of six unanswered points in the middle of the period which cut the Bulls' lead down to five.

Williams closed the gap to three with a mid-range jumper and a Millsap three-point play cut the lead to two when Noah fouled the forward in transition.

Kosta Koufos tied the game at 84-84 with 7:46 remaining and Millsap gave the Jazz their first lead since the game was knotted at 34 with a one-handed bank shot after Ronnie Price fed him the ball on the right hand side of the key.

The basket topped an 18-5 run for the Jazz.

The Bulls regained the lead with three minutes left to play as Pargo and Johnson scored six unanswered points to give Chicago a 95-93 lead.

The Jazz answered back through Andrei Kirilenko and Millsap then gave Utah a 99-97 lead with a strong flush after Eric Maynor drew three Bulls' defenders on a drive down the right.

Pargo was called for an offensive charge on Millsap—his 6th foul—with 1:26 remaining but James Johnson stole the ball back and ran the court on a two-on-one to give the Bulls the lead following a three point play.

Noah—who already had five blocks to his name—came up big on defense again for the Bulls, blocking Koufos with 46 seconds left, but Byers failed to extended Chicago's lead when he missed a pair of gimmes from the charity strip after Millsap's fifth foul.

Lindsay Hunter then sent Price to the line with 25.4 ticks remaining which gave Utah the lead once again at 101-100.

That set up Johnson's late heroics. Derrick Byars' three-point attempt from dead centre at the top of the arc bounced off the back of the rim, but Kirilenko failed to box out Johnson who was lurking beneath the basket.

As Kirilenko looked behind him for the ball, Johnson gathered the rebound and forced up the off-balance shot over Kirilenko's outstretched left arm to give the Bulls the victory.

While all of the plaudits would deservedly go to Johnson, Chicago's other 2009 draftee quietly went about his business with a productive game.

Taj Gibson, who looked impressive in the Bulls' preseason debut against Indiana on Thursday night, had another decent—if not spectacular—outing, scoring 10 points and collecting five rebounds before fouling out in the fourth.

Gibson did have his moments though—a highlight-reel block on Mehmet Okur and important left-handed put back with the Jazz up 90-87.