Dein erstes Forum » Offensively, making sure we know

SALT LAKE CITY -- Offense was hard to come by from both the Bulls and Jazz on Thursday night, but when Chicago needed baskets down the stretch, they turned to All-Star Jimmy Butler and future Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade.Butler scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Bulls defeated the Jazz 85-77.We found a way. We hung on, Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. On offense, youre going to have games like this over an 82-game schedule. Its going to come and go. Your constants have to be defense and rebounding. We did that all game long to give us a chance to win.The Bulls have won four straight, including three on the road.Chicago used 9-0 runs to start the third and fourth quarters that Utah never recovered from. Nikola Mirotic had a dunk, a steal and an assist during the fourth-quarter run that put the Bulls up 75-58.The Jazz cut the lead to 80-75 late, but Wade and Butler hit jumpers to put the game away.Wade scored 18 points for the Bulls and Robin Lopez posted his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds.The way were playing right now, man, its fun, Butler said.The Jazz have lost two straight at home after going 4-1 during the preceding road trip.Rudy Gobert finished with 16 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks for the Jazz as Gordon Hayward added eight points and 12 rebounds.The Jazz led 43-41 at halftime despite the Bulls shooting just 28.8 percent from the field. What the Bulls lacked in accuracy, they made up in volume -- taking 52 shots to Utahs 38 in the first half as the Jazz turned the ball over nine times.I dont know if its a one-game thing, Jazz coach Quin Snyder said of the offense. We werent very good, thats clear. Weve had bad games before offensively. We had some open shots, we didnt make them. ... Sometimes when youre missing shots you let it impact everything. You just get stagnant.I dont see any reason, because we played this way tonight, that sirens are going off for our offense. ... Im not despondent. ... We didnt play well tonight and lost to a really good team.TIP-INSBulls: Doug McDermott missed his second consecutive game due to a concussion. ... Rajon Rondo missed his second consecutive game with a left ankle sprain. ... Butler scored at least 20 points and had five assists in his previous five games. He only had three assists Thursday.Jazz: Rodney Hood returned to the starting lineup after missing last game with an illness and scored 12 points. ... Boris Diaw started in place of injured Derrick Favors. ... George Hill missed his sixth consecutive game with a sprained right thumb.FAVORS OUTFavors had an MRI on Wednesday and is out for an undetermined amount of time with a left knee bone contusion. The knee has been bothering him since the preseason and hes been in and out of the lineup, missing all but one preseason game. Snyder doesnt think he returned too quickly. Its been a challenge for him, Snyder said. The main point is, you reach a point where youre not effective. That is where he has been, or youre less effective to the point where you need to address the situation in a different way.QUOTABLEWe just didnt push the pace enough, Hood said. I think we defended well. Theyre a good team, theyre playing well right now. But we just didnt play with enough energy offensively.UP NEXTBulls: Chicago travels to Los Angeles for a back-to-back with the Clippers and Lakers on Saturday and Sunday.Jazz: Utah travels to face the Rockets on Saturday.Phil Simms Womens Jersey . 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Duchene scored two goals and had an assist, helping the Colorado Avalanche beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Friday night to match the best 10-game start in team history.ASHBURN, Va. -- Despite losing twice at home, and facing all sorts of problem areas, Washington Redskins coach Jay Gruden wants everyone to stay positive and understand we still have 14 games left and believe that all our goals are still reachable.If those phrases make him sound as if hes living in denial, there is no denying this: A loss next Sunday at the New York Giants (2-0) would leave Washington in a big hole in the NFC East, three games out of first place just three games into the season.To be 0-2 at home -- losing to the Cowboys, losing to the Steelers -- is kind of a shock to everybody, Gruden said Monday. We expected great things this year. We still do.A year after winning their division behind a career season from Kirk Cousins, the Redskins have reason to wonder what is going on with the QB . He has one touchdown pass and three interceptions, including an end-zone pick on third-and-goal from the 6 in the fourth quarter of Sundays 27-23 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.Hes not going to be perfect every week, thats for sure. And no quarterbacks are. Its just a matter of handling his business, going into work the next day and continuing to get better, Gruden said. Keep his head up and stay confident, stay poised.Gruden continued: Sometimes he puts a lot on himself. He puts a lot of pressure on himself. He wants to be great, theres no question about it. And sometimes, if he feels like hes not playing to the standards that we all have set for him, he feels like hes letting everybody down.There have been problems in the red zone. And on third downs. Cousins passer rating of 78.5 ranks 27th in the league.He has not been very accurate: Against Dallas, Cousins overthrew wide-open receivers DeSean Jackson and Jamison Crowder on plays that very easily could have been TDs.It wasnt good enough, obviously, Cousins acknowledged. I neeed to play better.ddddddddddddNo quarterback has thrown more often than Cousins 89 attempts through two games (Jacksonvilles Blake Bortles has the same number), and Washington has run the ball a grand total of 29 times, a division of labor that might not serve the Redskins well against the Giants revamped defense .Were not happy with the run-pass balance. Based on the numbers, were obviously not a `run-first team. Id be standing up here looking like a fool if I said were a `pound the rock-type team right now, Gruden said. First two games, the proof is in the pudding, the numbers.In addition to sounding an optimistic tone Monday, Gruden did say there is plenty his players and coaching staff needed to improve -- on offense and defense.Weve just got to do a better job communicating on defense, making sure were in the right spot, getting the calls out to the defensive backs, linebackers, defensive line. Offensively, making sure we know exactly where to go with the ball, when to go to it, and just do a better job of letting the players know what were trying to accomplish with each play call, both (on) offense and defense, the coach said. The players have got to understand what were doing and do it to the best of their ability.Game notesNT Kedric Golston went on IR after injuring his right hamstring on the first play from scrimmage against Dallas. In other moves, Washington brought up rookie DL Matt Ioannidis from the practice squad and added three players to the practice squad: LBs Jason Fanaika and Amarlo Herrera, and DL Bobby Richardson.---Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich ' ' '