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Bulls-Jazz Preview

Nov 25, 2009 - 5:56 PM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Chicago (6-7) at Utah (7-7), 10:30 p.m. EDT

Playing at home has provided a major advantage for the Utah Jazz in recent seasons, but it's been a different story for them in Salt Lake City in 2009-10.

Utah looks to bounce back from an ugly home loss Thursday night when it hosts a Chicago Bulls team trying to get back on track on its disappointing road trip.

Utah (7-7), which has dropped an average of 7.3 home games during the last three seasons, fell to 4-3 at EnergySolutions Arena with Tuesday's 104-94 loss to Oklahoma City. The Jazz were showered by boos while getting outscored 31-16 in the third quarter and falling behind by as many as 19 in the fourth.

"We are a team that usually wins 35-plus games at home and now we're off to a slow start," forward Carlos Boozer said after leading the Jazz with 26 points. "We need to turn this thing around fast because it will catch up on us."

Deron Williams had 10 points, nine assists and seven rebounds while matching a season-high with seven turnovers as Utah committed a season-worst 24.

"We turned the ball over 24 times against a team in our division - in our building," coach Jerry Sloan said. "We turn the ball over this many times, it makes it really hard to come away with a win."

After opening last season with six consecutive home wins, the Jazz fell to Chicago 101-100 on Nov. 24, 2008. Larry Hughes hit a 22-footer at the buzzer to help the Bulls snap a three-game slide in Salt Lake City. Chicago defeated Utah 106-98 at home Dec. 20 for its third straight victory over the Jazz and first season sweep since 2004-05.

Boozer missed both games against the Bulls last season with a quadriceps injury, while Williams was sidelined in the home loss with a sprained left ankle.

The Bulls (6-7) are hoping for another victory in Utah after falling to 1-3 on their trip with Monday's 122-98 loss to Portland.

Since beating Sacramento 101-87 on Nov. 17, Chicago has been outscored by an average of 19.3 points and outrebounded by 11.0 during its three-game slide.

The Bulls were outrebounded 47-27 by the Trail Blazers.

"It's very hard to rebound when you have someone like 6-foot-6, 6-7 boxing out 7-footers," said point guard Derrick Rose, who averaged 24.5 points and 6.0 assists against Utah in 2008-09. "We have to find a way to get rebounds and run."

Joakim Noah, among the league leaders with 11.9 rebounds per game, has grabbed eight in each of his last two games following a stretch of six straight double-doubles.

After missing the previous three games with flu-like symptoms, Jazz center Mehmet Okur scored 13 and added six rebounds Tuesday. His 3-pointer in the fourth quarter was his 440th with the Jazz, moving him past Jeff Hornacek for first all-time in franchise history.

Utah is playing the third contest of a season-high six-game homestand, while Chicago will end its trip Monday against Milwaukee.