Bulls at Jazz
The Chicago Bulls are experiencing a rough stretch and look to end the
struggles when they visit the Utah Jazz on Monday. Chicago was trounced
120-93 by the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday for its eighth loss in the
past 12 games.
The Bulls are 1-1 on a seven-game road trip and were embarrassed when they were outscored 69-46 in the second half by the Clippers. "We're trying to play our best ball up until the All-Star break," point guard Derrick Rose told reporters. "Give ourselves a good taste in our mouth and when we come back, we come back with a sense of urgency, giving that effort every game." Utah has won three of its past four games and is battling the Portland Trail Blazers and Sacramento Kings for eighth place in the Western Conference. The Jazz are 2-1 on a six-game homestand after recording a 103-90 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, CSN Chicago, ROOT (Utah)
ABOUT THE BULLS (26-20): Chicago was 10 games over .500 before the current slide, and coach Fred Hoiberg was disappointed with the level of play as his squad collapsed against the Clippers. "You've just got to keep talking about it," Hoiberg told reporters of his team's mental toughness issues. "That's what you've got to do. You've got to fight through it. Again, I've been saying this all year, I hate to sound like a broken record, we are a really good team when things are going well. We can go out there and play with a swagger and a confidence. But we lose that when things aren't going well. They scored 69 points in the second half. You ain't beating anybody when that happens." Center Pau Gasol described it this way: "We're not disciplined. Yep. We're not. That's it. It's true. It's a fact."
ABOUT THE JAZZ (21-25): Power forward Derrick Favors displayed he is back in form with 20 points and nine rebounds in 35 minutes against Minnesota. The stellar outing came in Favors' third game and first start since missing 16 contests because of a back ailment. "I had a month off with my injury, so I had a little energy," Favors told reporters afterward. "We've still got to work on a lot of stuff because I missed time and Rudy (Gobert) missed time. So there's still a lot of stuff we've got to work on."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Bulls have won seven of the past nine meetings.
2. Chicago F Mike Dunleavy (back) participated in a half-court scrimmage Saturday and is moving closer to seeing his first action of the season.
3. Utah SG Rodney Hood is averaging 22.8 points during the past five games and has topped 20 four times during the stretch.