Utah @ Chicago preview
United Center
Last Meeting ( Jan 7, 2023 ) Utah 118, Chicago 126
The Chicago Bulls have lost three games in a row coming into Monday's home game against the Utah Jazz.
But the Jazz haven't had much more success, losing two straight and four out of five as they continue a four-game road trip. And Utah hasn't won a road game yet this season in three previous tries.
One of the team's struggles will get at least a temporary reprieve after their meeting in Chicago.
Falling behind big has become more of a habit than the Jazz would like. So far this season, they have lost by at least 16 points three separate times.
Utah also trailed by as many as 31 points in its most recent rough showing, a 123-95 blowout loss at Minnesota. Saturday's game was the second in a row the Jazz trailed by at least 14 points in the third quarter.
Against the Timberwolves, the Jazz were limited to 38.5 percent shooting while Minnesota shot 55.6 percent.
"A combination of poor decision-making that led to 18 turnovers and then ultimately, a very poor shooting game," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "Shots will go in or they won't and there are some nights where it's ugly in that department.
"Obviously 12-for-43 from the 3-point line is a tough number to overcome, but we've got to continue to try to find some connectivity in terms of doing what we want to do on both ends of the floor for longer."
Lauri Markkanen scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Utah, but only made 7 of 20 shots (35 percent). The forward continues to produce from 3-point range, though. He hit 4 of 11 3-pointers Saturday and has made a franchise-record 29 through seven games.
Hardy lamented the Jazz's defensive tendencies after watching his team allow more than 109 points for the seventh consecutive outing. He called Utah's defense "poor."
"We've got a lot of work to do before Monday," Hardy said. "We've got way too many moments where we're not doing a good job on the ball. We've been undisciplined with our hands and fouled too much, and we're not doing a very good job with secondary defenders. The activity has been pretty lackluster in general."
Chicago has had its own defensive issues. The Bulls have given up an average of 117.6 points in their five losses. In their most recent loss to Denver, they allowed the Nuggets to shoot 70.0 percent in the decisive fourth quarter of the 123-101 setback.
"Nobody wants to lose," Chicago's DeMar DeRozan said. "Nobody wants to lose the way we have been losing this early. It's always easy to let go of the rope when things aren't going your way.
"It's all about how we get out of that. Where we are right now, it feels bad, it sucks. But a good week for us changes everything. We have to start there."
Offensively, the Bulls were led by Nikola Vucevic's 19 points. DeRozan scored 17, Jevon Carter contributed 16 points and Zach LaVine added 12 but only shot 4-for-12.
"The biggest thing to me is can you get downhill and attack the paint to generate more threes, generate more fouls, offensive rebounds and that kind of stuff?" Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. "Was every shot ideal? No, but I think we're doing a pretty good job of generating some good ones."
--Field Level Media