Bulls vs. Jazz: Score, Highlights, Reaction from 2016 Regular Season
Offense was in short supply Thursday night at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, but the Chicago Bulls came alive throughout the second half and squashed the Utah Jazz 85-77 to stretch their winning streak to four games.
The Bulls are now 8-4 following Thursday's win, while the Jazz dropped to 7-6 by virtue of back-to-back losses.
Since points were at a premium, gaudy lines were nowhere to be found.
Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade paced the Bulls with 20 and 18 points, respectively, and Robin Lopez held his own in a matchup against Rudy Gobert to the tune of 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Speaking of Gobert, the Stifle Tower tallied his third double-double in the last four games with 16 points and 13 boards to go with three blocks. However, he didn't receive much help as Gordon Hayward floundered with eight points on 3-of-15 shooting on a night when the Jazz shot 38.5 percent from the field.
But considering the Bulls and Jazz entered Thursday ranked among the top 10 in defensive efficiency, per Basketball-Reference.com, it was expected that defense would rule the day.
And as the Salt Lake Tribune's Tony Jones noted, Utah's inability to generate easy offense throughout the first few weeks of the season cropped up against the Bulls:
To that point, Utah trotted into its home tilt against the Bulls shooting 39.7 percent from the field and 32.5 percent from three on shots defined as "wide open" by NBA.com's player-tracking database.
However, the Bulls weren't much more efficient with a chance to make a strong opening statement against a Jazz team that was without George Hill (thumb) and Derrick Favors (knee).
Chicago shot 15-of-52 from the field in the first half, and that figure was hurt by some serious second-quarter inefficiencies, according to ESPN.com's Nick Friedell:
Of course, capitalizing against a Utah defense featuring a shot-blocking machine like Gobert is never easy:
With the Bulls scratching and clawing for every point, CSN Chicago's Vincent Goodwill explained that the absence of Rajon Rondo (ankle) hindered the team's ability to open up clean looks:
But after halftime, the Bulls got some of their groove back.
Chicago opened the third quarter by making nine of 12 shots, according to WLS 890's Jeff Mangurten, and it pushed its lead to eight points by the end of the stanza as shots continued to fall.
The Bulls' lead continued to balloon through the first few minutes of the fourth quarter, and a flurry of heads-up plays by Nikola Mirotic allowed head coach Fred Hoiberg's squad to briefly enjoy a 15-point edge that wiped away memories of a horrific second quarter.
The Jazz, however, were not as fortunate.
Offensive problems persisted, and cohesion was hard to come by with Hill sidelined, according to the Washington Post's Tim Bontemps:
But considering the Jazz entered Thursday generating 9.3 points fewer per 100 offensive possessions with Hill off the floor, per NBA.com's stats database, the shaky scoring should not have come as a shock.
Looking ahead, the Jazz will need to find some firepower in a hurry.
A matchup against the high-flying Houston Rockets on Saturday is fast approaching, and it won't be easy for Utah to keep pace with James Harden and Co. if open shots continue to miss the mark.
As for the Bulls, their Western road swing will continue through Nov. 22, and a back-to-back against the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers over the weekend will test their resolve since both of those teams have proved capable of pouring in points.
But if they're able to tame Hollywood's surging squads, the Bulls' confidence should continue to climb as they try to solidify their status as an Eastern Conference contender.
Postgame Reaction
Following the win, Hoiberg discussed Wade's leadership in glowing terms, according to the Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson:
Hoiberg was also encouraged by the Bulls' resilience.
"We found a way. We hung on," he said, according to the Associated Press' Kareem Copeland. "On offense, you're going to have games like this over an 82-game schedule. It's going to come and go. Your constants have to be defense and rebounding. We did that all game long to give us a chance to win."
And while Utah failed to hit 100 points for the fourth time in five games, head coach Quin Snyder preached patience.
"I don’t see any reason that because we played this way tonight sirens are going off for our offense," he said, per the Desert News' Jody Genessy.
"We didn't play well," Snyder added, according to Genessy. "I don’t think we have to examine everything and start over."
However, Snyder noted he's not going to derive any sort of pleasure when he goes back and watches the tape from Thursday's loss.
"Tonight is not one you look forward to watching [later]," he said, per Basketball Insiders' Ben Dowsett. "But you have to."
