Utah Jazz 105 Chicago Bulls 96 Game Recap: Gordon Hayward spectacular in OT win

The Utah Jazz defeated the Chicago Bulls 105-96 in overtime. What a fantastic come from behind victory by the Utah Jazz tonight! They didn't lead at all in the second half until the waning moments of the third quarter, and survived all of the prayers the Bulls "stars" were throwing up in the fourth quarter. Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose will get all the casual fans excited, but it was Gordon Hayward and Raul Neto who didn't give up and got the win.

I don't even know where to start with this game, but it was tied up in the fourth with neither team taking an advantage. Rudy Gobert was active but having trouble finishing at the line. That gave the Bulls an opening and Jimmy Butler drove to the basket -- taking the defense along with him -- and found Derrick Rose open for a three. Rose, who was shooting 25% for the year from outside and had not made a three in a game since January 22nd, drilled the shot.

And he decided to take a bow.

Too bad for him the game wasn't over yet. After a time-out Gordon Hayward drove and drew a foul on Jimmy Butler. G-Time made the first free throw, then missed the second, but Chris Johnson got the offensive rebound. Time out Jazz, down by 2, with 8 seconds remaining. Four seconds of game time later and Hayward tied it up 93-93. After a Bulls timeout Gordon tipped the ball and it went out of bounds off of Butler. The Jazz had the ball back and 3 seconds on the clock to win it, but they just didn't get it done in regulation.

In overtime, well, the Jazz spanked the Bulls 12-3 in overtime. It was a fantastic win predicated by our best players going head to head against the other team's best players -- and coming out stronger.

That's it, get it Trey Lyles. Get it.

It wasn't just a game that was OT and the last few seconds of the fourth. But that's the part of the game that mattered the most. All-Star, and likely Team USA player Jimmy Butler finished with 26 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and got to the line 7 times. Non-Star, and likely Team USA cut Gordon Hayward finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, and got to the line 10 times.

It was great to see Gordon step up in the lime-light and do his thing even after Rodney Hood fouled out a few seconds into OT. Also, Raul Neto had his best game of his career tonight and was a huge problem for Chicago on both ends of the court. He housed Rose when it mattered. Rose finished with 14 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block -- but did it by shooting 6/21. Neto, on the other hand, had 14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and shot 6/8 from the field. His end of game steal on Rose was the clincher. Rose finished -15 in +/-, while Neto was +19.

But more than the individual battles, this was a team win. Rudy Gobert, despite going 4/8 from the FT line, was huge and once again made life hard for Pau Gasol. (Who fouled out) Gobert had 16 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and shot 60%. Derrick Favors had 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Rodney Hood did his thing, scoring 19 points, grabbing 5 boards, dishing out 3 dimes, and hitting for nearly 50 FG% again.

With starters like that you can see a lot of wins in your future. Off the bench Trey Burke had 10 first half points that were crucial to keeping the Jazz afloat when they were down. Joe Ingles was +15 in +/- and finished the OT when Hood went down. He did everything, without making a huge impact on the box score. He finished with 2 points, 2 assists, 2 steals in 19 minutes. But he was tremendous.

This was a fantastic team win for a team that finally got that "three wins in a row streak" monkey off their back. The fun continues on Wednesday as the Jazz host the Denver Nuggets.

GO JAZZ GO!