Derrick and Larry

Did anyone else notice that Derrick Rose took his last shot tonight eerily close to where MJ took his final shot in a Bulls uniform on the same court? For that reason alone it would have been sweet had Rose hit that shot, taken with about six seconds left in the fourth quarter and the Bulls down one. The ball of course bounced back to the corner for the much maligned Larry Hughes, who somehow hit a miracle fadaway at the buzzer. On this roadtrip, the Bulls will take a win any way they can get it, even if it's as weird as this one.

Realize what the Jazz had going against them though, what with four of its best players - including the two superstars - out with injuries. So yeah, this win wasn't all that impressive even though it was the second part of a back-to-back. This was a game the Bulls still probably should have won, so the fact that they actually did it is encouraging.

Oh and Derrick Rose in the fourt quarter. That was just awesome. What Matt said:

But this was a game that was truly won by Derrick Rose. Faced with daunting odds: not only the Utah Jazz, but his own coach who left out an atrocious defensive lineup and ran out of time outs, Rose was sensational down the stretch. Beating his man at will and letting the Jazz do what they do best, foul.

This could've played out like any other blown lead over the past several seasons due to mismanagement (why do our coaches not value rebounding and defense in crunch time?), but that's the difference when you have a player like Rose, who can make something happen on every possession, even if they're disorganized ones.

I also thought Aaron Gray had a great stint: 16 minutes, eight points on 4-of-5 shooting. Nice rebounding efforts by Noah and Tyrus too, though I'd like to see them get more minutes obviously.

Update: With video!