Monday night marked the first time that Derrick Rose had faced the Utah Jazz since the exhibition game in which Utah's Deron Williams went up for a jumper and came down on Rose's ankle.
Williams, who suffered a severe sprain, hasn't played since, other than two games in an ill-advised comeback. There was some question as to whether Rose would become a public enemy to the Jazz fans at EnergySolutions Arena, but the rookie shook off any of those thoughts before the Bulls' 101-100 victory. "It's messed up that he hasn't played this season," Rose said. "I know that he's a big part of their success. At the same time that play didn't happen on purpose. That's not my type of game. If anything I wanted to play against him because he makes me a better player."
Resilience: In a 114-101 loss Sunday to Denver, the Bulls held a three-point lead with five minutes remaining. With that, Del Negro's mantra for Monday was finishing and playing a full 48 minutes. Apparently, his words got through to his team.
When Utah went on a 9-3 run in the third quarter, punctuated by three dunks by three different players, the arena was rocking and it would've been easy for the Bulls to fold.
Only they didn't. Down 73-66, Ben Gordon hit two jumpers, Tyrus Thomas hit one and the Bulls pulled within three points at the end of the quarter.
Deng returns: For the first time since he tweaked his hamstring against the Los Angeles Lakers, Luol Deng attempted to play. Coming off the bench, Deng played just under 16 minutes and scored two points on 1-for-5 shooting.
- - -
Big number: 2-2
The Bulls' record this season in the second half of back-to-back games. They have seven more sets of them to go.
