In a close contest that went down to the wire, the Chicago Bulls held on to a 119-117 victory over the Utah Jazz, on Wednesday, March 6, on the road.
The Bulls fought tooth and nail sustaining their lead down the stretch, despite a fourth quarter run by the Jazz. Forward DeMar DeRozan made two clutch free-throws to win the game after a small altercation took place on the side line with Jazz players and Bulls staff and coaches.
“We’ve got to be better in those moments,” said Bulls coach Billy Donovan via the Associated Press. “Not only do we lose a point on a technical foul, we also iced our free throw shooter. I give DeMar a lot of credit for being mentally tough enough.”
After a technical foul was assessed to injured Bulls forward Torrey Craig and assistant coach Chris Fleming for instigating, DeRozan, with the game tied, came through in the clutch draining two free throws to seal the game. He finished with a game high 29 points.
In addition to DeRozan clutch performance, Bulls guard Coby White made 7 three-pointers in the contest. White finished second in team scoring with 25 points.
According to Bulls PR, White (1,196 pts/293 rebs/323 asts/172 3FGM) became 1 of 2 NBA players (Luka Doncic) with at least 1K pts, 275 rebs, 300 asts, 150 3FGM this season. He is averaging 22.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg and 5.7 apg with 3.0 3FGM/gm over his last 45 games, added via @EliasSports / @bball_ref.
The Bulls outscored the Jazz 33-29 in the first quarter, 30-25 in the second quarter and 30-29 in the third quarter.
Final score: Bulls 119, Jazz 117
With the win, the Bulls are now 32-30 on the season and will play their next game versus the Golden State Warriors on Thursday, March 7, on the road. Game time 9 p.m.
(Information courtesy of the Associated Press, Bulls PR, @EliasSports, @bball_ref.)
Joseph Phillips is the Sports Editor for the Chicago Crusader Newspaper. He is a Chicago native, who has been a sports writer for over 17 years. He also hosts the SC Media News and Sports Network Q&A radio show on WHPK 88.5 FM Chicago.
