CHICAGO — Utah Jazz forward Brice Sensabaugh scored 21 points off the bench in the first quarter of a 128-126 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night, the most by an NBA reserve in the opening period in the play-by-play era (since 1997-98).
Until Sensabaugh’s outburst, the Indiana Pacers‘ Lance Stephenson had the high for first-quarter scoring with 20 points against Brooklyn on Jan. 5, 2022. He finished that game with 30 points.
Sensabaugh, a third-year player, finished with a career-high 43 points in 34 minutes, making 15-of-22 shots and going 5 of 10 from 3-point range. His previous career high was set Jan. 4, when he had 34 points at Miami. His second-best scoring game came the next day with 27 points at Orlando.
It was the second-most points off the bench in Utah history, trailing Jordan Clarkson (45 in March 2022).
Sensabaugh scored 28 points in the first half against the Bulls, just two shy of the Jazz record for a starter or a reserve in the opening 24 minutes. Rodney Hood scored 30 points in the first half against the Los Angeles Lakers on March 28, 2016.
Karl Malone scored 37 points in the second half of a game against Golden State on April 7, 1998, the team record for any half.
Sensabaugh made 8 of 9 shots in the first quarter, including all three 3-point attempts. His scoring came in just 7:14 of playing time.
Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press was used in this report.
