The Portland Trail Blazers have yet to put together a four-game winning streak this season, but they’ll have another chance to reverse that trend when they host the Chicago Bulls Wednesday night at the Moda Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The Trail Blazers have put together five three-game winning streaks this season, but have failed every time they’ve gone for a fourth. Their current streak is their second three-game run of the month, with the previous streak ended by a 104-101 loss to the Nuggets in Denver on January 22.
But after winning their last three, the most recent being a 104-96 victory versus the Clippers Tuesday night at Staples Center, the Trail Blazers have yet another chance to prove they’ve making progress toward their goal of becoming a more consistent team.
“Whether you make a shot or not, we are playing together, especially on the defensive end," said Jusuf Nurkić, who tied his career high with 20 rebounds in Tuesday's win. "Communication should be better, especially in that first half, but I think we’re getting there, and our defense has kept us in games throughout the year, and I think that trust is really showing."
While the Trail Blazers will be looking to reverse some recent history versus the Bulls, Damian Lillard will have an opportunity to make history Tuesday night. The 6-3 guard in his sixth season out of Weber State needs 25 points to make it to the 10,000 point mark just 440 games into his NBA career. Should he surpass the mark Wednesday night, he'll join Clyde Drexler, LaMarcus Aldridge, Terry Porter, Cliff Robinson, Jerome Kersey and Jim Paxson as the only players to score 10,000 points in their Trail Blazers' career.
What's more, he'll join LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony as the only active players to score at least 10,000 points in their first six seasons.
He'd also be the first player to pass the 10,000 point mark while wearing plaid, as the Trail Blazers are debuting their "City" edition uniforms, inspired by the loud patterns legendary Hall of Fame coach Dr. Jack Ramsay would often wear. Fans are encouraged to wear plaid to the Moda Center for Wednesday night's game to celebrate the release.
Wednesday night's game can be seen locally on NBC Sports NW with Kevin Calabro, Lamar Hurd and Brooke Olzendam. Brian Wheeler and Michael Holton will have the radio call on NBC Sports NW Rip City Radio 620 AM starting at 7 p.m.