DeMar DeRozan scored 26 points and the Chicago Bulls overcame a double-digit deficit en route to a 114-107 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday night in Salt Lake City.
Zach LaVine added 20 points and Nikola Vucevic contributed 16 points and nine rebounds as the Bulls improved to 2-1 on their six-game road trip.
Former Chicago forward Lauri Markkanen led all scorers with 32 points, including seven 3-pointers, and nine rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Jazz from extending their season-worst losing streak to five games.
Kelly Olynyk had 23 points and Collin Sexton 17 for Utah, which kicked off a six-game homestand.
Chicago overtook the Jazz in the third quarter, and then built its lead to 12 in the fourth quarter before the Jazz made one last push.
The Jazz trailed by four with 3:44 remaining when Olynyk lost the ball. Sexton then committed a clear-path foul on Patrick Williams, who hit both free throws. DeRozan scored on the same possession after snagging an offense rebound off a miss from Vucevic, who finished off a game-clinching 6-0 run with a layup for a 10-point lead with 2:48 left.
Coby White, who finished with 15 points off the bench, then hit a dagger of a 3-pointer with 1:10 left after the Jazz got back within six.
Andre Drummond registered 10 points and 10 rebounds in the win for the Bulls, who continue their road swing Wednesday in Phoenix.
The teams were tied 27-27 after the first quarter, but the Jazz created some space early in the second quarter with a 10-0 run that began with five points from Markkanen.
Utah took a 60-53 lead into the break thanks in large part to Markkanen’s 24 first-half points, a career high for a single half.
The Jazz re-established a double-digit lead when Olynyk hit a 3-pointer for the first points of the second half. The Bulls used an 11-3 surge to tighten things up, and then scored 10 straight to seize a 78-73 lead.
Drummond scored a couple of buckets in a row to cap an 8-0 run for Chicago early in the fourth quarter as the visitors stretched their lead to 94-82.
Utah pulled within three after a 3-pointer by Malik Beasley and an Olynyk layup midway through the fourth, but that’s as close as the Jazz would get.
–Field Level Media
