CHICAGO -- The last game between the Trail Blazers and Bulls roughly two weeks ago at the Moda Center was, for all intents and purproses, over by the end of the first quarter, with Chicago outscoring Portland 35-14 before coasting to a blowout victory.
"I thought the first game against (Chicago) was an outlier," said Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts. "We got out to such a poor start defensively, we never got back into it."
The second meeting between the two teams Monday night in Chicago would play out in the opposite fashion, with the Trail Blazers using an 11-0 run in the fourth quarter to earn the 112-110 victory in front of a crowd of a sellout crowd of 21,351 at the United Center.
"I thought this was a good way to start a trip," said Stotts. "Even though we gave up 100 or whatever, I thought defensively we were locked in for most of the game, we did a lot of good things defensively. They made their run in the third quarter, I thought we showed a lot of grit to hang with it and find a way to win a game on the road."
The Trail Blazers are now 12-10 on the season and 5-6 away from the Moda Center. With the victory the Trail Blazers have now won three-straight for the first time this season and are 1-0 on their just-started five-game road trip.
“I think the last few games our minds have been right," said Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard. "All year long we’ve been struggling to put games together. We’ve been really inconsistent. We’ve been building on each game. We’ve been able to have a better understanding of what has allowed us to be successful and how we need to be playing. This is as consistent as we’ve been on that end of the floor, and it shows in how we play.”
After getting off to a horrendous start in their loss to the Bulls on Nov. 15, Portland led by as many as seven in the first quarter before a late run resulted in the Bulls taking a 32-29 lead into the second quarter. Though it was obviously less preferable than the alternative, being that close on the road after being run off the floor in the previous meeting was not only a sign of improvement, but a harbinger of things to come.
"I think the game in Portland helped us prepare for what kind of game it was going to be," said Lillard. "We saw how physical they were, they compete on both ends of the floor. Even on the offensive end with screens and how physical they are on offense. I think we just came in with the right mindset knowing what to expect, knowing what would get us in trouble and what would give us our best chance. We came out and we brought the fight instead of allowing them to come out and jump on us first."
That fight would carry over to the second quarter, with the Trail Blazers outscoring the Bulls by 11 to take a 65-57 lead into the halftime intermission.
Chicago would return the favor in the third, starting the quarter on a 12-1 run to reclaim the lead at 67-66 and would go up by as many as six late in the quarter before a couple Allen Crabbe free throws and a CJ McCollum three-pointer with 0.3 seconds to play in the third cut the Bulls lead to 87-86 going into the fourth quarter.
Portland would make short work of that one-point deficit with McCollum hitting another three at the 10:14 mark of the fourth to give the road team their first lead since early in the third quarter at 90-89. The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes before the Trail Blazers, led by Evan Turner's midrange shooting and Ed Davis' rugged defense, went on an 11-0 run to wrestle away control of the game.
"That said a lot about ourselves because we fought back," said Turner. "Things weren’t going our way in the third quarter, we had a couple questionable things and we could have complained. But we didn’t, we stuck together and fought. And, pretty much, the basketball Gods rewarded us."
Chicago would spend the final five minutes trying to reclaim the lead, which they got down to five with just over two minutes to play, but Portland would hit just enough free throws to come away with the two-point victory, even with Jimmy Butler hitting a three-pointer as time expired.
"Our team did a great job of staying the course," said Lillard. "They came out and had a big third quarter, but we stayed together. Our defense got tighter, we stayed physical and got some fouls called against us. We just stayed present. On the offensive end, the ball stayed moving. On offense we got some looks that we didn’t make. Then in the fourth our players had to go out there and play. We had to go out there and win the game."
The Trail Blazers were led by Lillard, who went 11-of-24 from the field to finish with 30 points, seven assists, four rebounds and two steals in 34 minutes. McCollum shot 10-of-19 from the field and 4-of-7 from three for 24 points to go with five assists.
Mason Plumlee finished with 10 points and Maurice Harkless added 11 points and eight rebounds in 31 minutes. Portland's bench outscored Chicago's thanks to 17 points from Allen Crabbe and 10 from Turner, with eight of those points coming in the fourth.
Al-Farouq Aminu returned to the lineup Monday night for the first time since suffering a left calf strain back on November 8. The 6-9 forward out of Wake Forest came off the bench and finished with three points, two rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes.
Bulls guard Dwyane Wade led all scorers with 34 points on 11-of-23 shooting from the field and 11-of-13 shooting from the line. Jimmy Butler shot 50 percent from the field to finish with 26 points in 36 minutes and Nikola Mirotic added 18 points off the bench.
Next up, the Trail Blazers will take a short bus ride to Milwaukee for a Wednesday night contest versus the Bucks at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Tipoff is schedule for 5 pm.