Boozeriffic; Carlos Leads Jazz Over Bulls 97-87

Posted by Jeff Sack under Main

That’s why them call them “winning streaks” because they always come to an end. The secret to having a successful season, is when the streak is over, not to allow it to turn into a “losing streak.” The Utah Jazz that they understood that concept very well.?Saturday night?they bounced back one night after seeing their winning 10 straight games come to an end Friday with a 97-87 win over the visiting Chicago Bulls. Power forward and All-Star reserve Carlos Boozer, led the Jazz with a double-double.

Utah kept jumping ahead of Chicago, but the Bulls would get back into the game. The Jazz led 24-22 at the end of the first quarter. ?Chicago would come back and briefly take the lead in the second quarter, at 34-33 with 7:39 remaining in the half, and then 37-36 as Thabo Sefolosha hit a trey from 24 feet, with 7:16 left in the second quarter. But Utah would go on a 13-2 run to finish out the half, leading 49-39. The third quarter a similar scenario happened, as the Bulls would get within 2 points as Andres Nocioni hit a jumper to cut the Jazz lead to 67-65 with 1:17 left in the period. But Utah scored the next 5 points to grab a 72-65 advantage heading into the final 12 minutes of play. Chicago would never get that close again as they trailed by double digits for most of the fourth.

Boozer shot 9-15 from the floor, 4-5 from the line for 22 points, he grabbed 12 boards, and had 1 assist. Deron Williams also recorded a double-double for the Jazz, scoring 15 points, 11 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, Andrei Kirilenko scored 15 points as well, 4 rebounds,?2 blocks, 2 assists, 1 steal. Kyle Korver came off the bench and scored 10 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 rebounds, 1 block, Ronnie?Price also scored 10 points, coming off the pine, 2 assists, 1 rebound, 1 steal.

Chicago playing short handed as Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, and Kirk Hinrich, all hurt, had to rely on some backups to keep them in the game as long as they were. Thabo Sefolosha led the Bulls with 22 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block. Andres Nocioni scored 14 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, veteran Joe Smith also scored 14 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block. Chris Duhon scored 11 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals. Utah now has a record of 33-19, Chicago slips to 20-30.

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