Community Picks: Toronto Raptors 0% vs Portland Trail Blazers 0%

Hitting a go-ahead shot in crunch time is a really big deal, especially when it comes after 47 minutes of mostly poor play. Nevertheless, it's usually not a good idea to treat that clutch moment like a triumph when the game is not yet won. [ Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr:  The best slams from all of basketball] Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose found that out the hard way on Monday night against the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City. With the score tied 90-90 with 28 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Jimmy Butler drove to the hoop and created an open three for Rose, who was just 5-of-18 from the field and 0-of-3 from deep up to that point. He was understandably excited about hitting the very important jumper, enough so that he followed it with a bow: It turned out to be a premature celebration. The Bulls fouled Gordon Hayward on the next possession, and it looked like a good move when the Jazz wing split his pair. Unfortunately, the missed second ended up in the hands of Chris Johnson. Utah called a timeout off the offensive rebound, which set up this very difficult lay-in for Hayward: Jimmy Butler could not corral the inbound pass after pressure from Hayward (and a replay review), but the Jazz could not score on the last possession of regulation. That set up an extra period dominated by Hayward, who followed up his strong close to the fourth quarter with nine points of his 27 total points. This dunk was both the most exciting play and the de facto dagger: Hayward added 12 rebounds and seven assists to lead Utah to the 105-96 OT win . They are now in a virtual tie with the idle Portland Trail Blazers for the No. 8 spot in the West. The Bulls' loss drops them to 4-9 in their last 13, an unfortunate stretch for a team with dreams of challenging the Cleveland Cavaliers for the East crown. They now sit fifth in the conference. - - - - - - - Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @FreemanEric Continue to Article

February 02, 2016 2:48:am EST

While many athletes figure they'll pursue media careers after their playing days are over, Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum sees no reason why he can't have it all now. McCollum is a media mogul in the making, with a radio show along with a series of articles to his name. Portland's second-leading scorer rattles off the names of sports writers and broadcasters he admires as adeptly as he lists the players he looks up to, including Zach Lowe and Bill Simmons. Continue to Article

February 01, 2016 5:52:pm EST

The Vertical's weekly look at the mindset and challenges facing the modern NBA front office. Continue to Article

February 01, 2016 2:55:pm EST