Bulls beat Jazz on Johnson's basket

LONDON – Rookie James Johnson sank a fade-away jump shot from the baseline at the buzzer Tuesday to give the Bulls a 102-101 win over the Utah Jazz in an NBA preseason game.

Johnson, who finished with 18 points, got the rebound after teammate Derrick Byars missed a 3-point attempt from the top of the key.

"Just shoot it, that was the only instinct," Johnson said. "I knew we didn't have much time on the clock. I just tried to let it go as fast as I can before the clock ran out."

Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said he gave Johnson advice before the game, his second NBA contest.

"I just said be aggressive," Del Negro said. "Go and have fun."

Luol Deng, who was raised in London after his family fled war-torn Sudan, impressed early and finished with 18 points at sold-out O2 Arena. He left the game in the third quarter and didn't return.

Jannero Pargo scored 16 points for the Bulls. Paul Milsap led the Jazz with 18 points, and Deron Williams and Wesley Matthews had 16 each.

Deng kept the crowd cheering and helped the Bulls build a 71-58 lead midway through the third quarter. But Williams then took over, hitting a 3-pointer, scoring from the field and making free throws to close the gap.

Deng, recovering from a stress fracture in his right leg, said the injury was not the reason he stayed on the bench as the game heated up.

"We really wanted to stick with the plan," Deng said. "It's exciting to be home and I wanted to play a lot of minutes, but Coach came and asked me and we kind of talked about it. But it was the right thing to do — just keep managing my minutes."

In the end, though, Deng wasn't jealous that his rookie teammate sank the late jumper for the win.

"I'm so happy that he hit that," Deng said. "I won in London, my first game."

Trailing 81-77 at the start of the fourth, the Jazz took the lead at 86-84 when Milsap drove for a layup and was fouled. He was unable to complete the three-point play.