At the heart of a period of uncertainty, of permanent player movements to compensate for absences due to Covid, the Utah Jazz and the Chicago Bulls can boast of being among the most stable and successful franchises of the moment, this that their ongoing four-game winning streak – no one is doing better right now – supports it.
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Traveling to the San Antonio Spurs Monday night, Rudy Gobert’s team (16 points, 13 rebounds, 3 against) mastered their subject, taking advantage of a one-sided first quarter end (34-27, 12th) for fly into the game and manage his advantage until a few last possessions a little warmer (110-104).
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Jordan Clarkson (23 points), still as valuable off the bench – especially since the back Donovan Mitchell had withdrawn (back) -, was also illustrated by an early altercation with a spectator, including the insults led to him being expelled. ” The guy kept provoking me, like he wanted to challenge me, “What are you going to do?”, said the back after the game, vilified after having given up on returning to defend in the wake of a missed shot while his team led 94-80. He said a lot of things. I’m making money, I’m not trying to lose it. I’ll probably lose more than him. He was just kicked out of the match. »
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On the Spurs side, deprived of their best scorer Dejounte Murray (Covid protocol), coach Gregg Popovich showed the satisfaction of having produced a match ” where there is room for improvement, in order to understand how to play “. What the ten wins between the two franchises (24 successes for the Jazz, 14 for the Spurs) support. On the strength of its series, the Salt Lake City team could well melt this week on the Phoenix Suns (26 wins) – runners-up of the Golden State Warriors (27 successes) – beaten by Memphis in the same evening (114-113) and affected by the Covid at the end of the year.
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Chicago comes back to life
After two weeks of galleys, between decimated workforce and postponements of matches (three in total to catch up), the Bulls have just chained two important victories, against Indiana (113-105) then Monday in Atlanta (130-118), came to recall that the Illinois franchise is among the main rivals of the Brooklyn Nets, leaders of the Eastern Conference (23v-9d).
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Utah and Chicago share another point in common: they only lost twice in December (10 wins for the Jazz, 7 for the Bulls).
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Above all, Chicago is gradually regaining its formidable traction since Zach LaVine, the last player released by the Covid protocol after fifteen days of absence, had a second game (30 points, 9 assists) and became the perfect complement to DeMar DeRozan (35 points to 14 of 20 shooting) and Nikola Vucevic (24 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists). Only the leader Lonzo Ball is still missing, replaced in his role by Coby White (13 points). “I think Vuc (Vucevic nickname) found a way to fit in with the other two (LaVine et DeRozan) and it’s nice to see, chicagoan coach Chris Fleming, alternate Billy Donovan, appreciated. This is what has shaped our success in the last two matches. “
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Dominated after twelve minutes of play by the Hawks (36-31, 12th), who found for the occasion their leader Trae Young (end of protocol), author of 29 points and 9 assists, the Bulls took control of the game before the break (69-63, 24th) and did not let go, carried by a big long distance success (18 out of 37, 48.6%). Here they are leading a pack of pursuers in the East (21v-10d), formed with the Milwaukee Bucks (22v-13d), the Miami Heat (21v-13d) and the Cleveland Cavaliers (20-13), at three wins at most for the Nets (23v-9d).
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