Scott Padgett could have lived without the final seconds of regulation.
 
The Jazz could not have survived overtime without him.
 
After the Jazz had squandered an eight-point lead in the final 2 1/2 minutes of regulation Saturday night at the United Center, Padgett scored four of his season-high 16 points to spark Utah to a 113-111 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
 
The win pushed the Jazz back over .500, but it probably should have been far easier.
 
Thanks to monster outings by Karl Malone (32 points) and Donyell Marshall (25 points, nine rebounds), Utah owned a 100-92 lead with only 2:30 remaining. But the Jazz did not score again in regulation and were lucky not to lose.
 
Chicago had the ball for the final shot, but Bryon Russell pressured Ron Mercer into a 20-foot airball as time expired.
 
Padgett opened overtime with a 12-footer against the same Chicago zone defense that limited the Jazz to 15 points in the fourth quarter. With 1:40 left, Padgett's jumper as the shot clock ran down gave Utah a 109-106 lead.
 
Still, the Jazz didn't ice their victory over the Bulls (6-26) until Padgett rebounded a miss by Mercer that could have tied the game.
 
Instead, John Stockton's two free throws with 7.6 seconds remaining gave Utah a 112-108 lead and rendered meaningless the game's final two plays: a last-second three-pointer by A.J. Guyton and one free throw by Russell.
 
Said Padgett: "All the shots I made today, they're all the things I work on every day. . . . When I step into my shots, I'm like an 80-percent shooter. When I don't, I'm like 30 percent."