GAME NIGHT FROM PORTLAND: Bulls (10-30, 5-14 on the road) at Portland (24-17, 16-7 at home).
TV: WGN: Neil Funk and Stacey King. 9PM CT
RADIO: 670 The Score: Chuck Swirsky, Bill Wennington, Steve Kashul.
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: LaVine: 23 per game. Portland: Lillard: 26 ppg.
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Markkanen and Portis each 7 per. Portland: Nurkic: 10 per.
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: Dunn: 6 per. Portland: Lillard: 6 per.
CCI PREVIEW: The Bulls begin a daunting task of playing five straight on the road. It starts tonight in Portland. The Bulls have won two of the last three road meetings in Portland. Last year was a different story. The Blazers jumped on the Bulls early led by CJ McCollum who scored 50 in three quarters, 28 in the first quarter alone.
Damian Lillard is having another Damian Lillard type season. Jusuf Nurkic is an under the radar star. He competes and he is physical. He’s averaging 15 points and 10 rebounds. He’s scored 20 or more points in four straight contests. CJ McCollum enjoying another solid year averaging 20 per game. It was McCollum who went off on the Bulls last season scoring 28 first quarter points en route to a 50 point three quarters game. The Bulls need to lock in defensively on Portland’s two guards. Look for the Bulls to come out with a physical mentality.
CCI 24 SECONDS NBA NEWS AND NOTES
Indiana 23, Cleveland 115: The Cavs suffered their tenth straight loss and dropped to 8-33.
Philadelphia 132, Washington 115: Rookie Landry Shamet made eight 3s and scored 29 points.
Denver 103, Miami 99: Nikola Jokic with his fourth triple-double of the season: 29-11-10. He is an All Star. Has to be. The Bulls are in Denver a week from Thursday.
Toronto 104, Atlanta 101: Kawhi Leonard with a 31–6-6 game. The Raps have won six straight at home. The Hawks committed 27 turnovers. Leading to 34 Toronto points. Yikes.
Minnesota 119, Oklahoma City 117: Ryan Saunders in the win column taking over the reigns from Tom Thibodeau. Andrew Wiggins had a season-high 40 points and 10 rebounds.
Golden State 122, New York 95: Klay Thompson poured in 43 points, nailing 7-3s. The Knicks fall to 10-30.
Los Angeles Clippers 128, Charlotte 109: The Clippers held Kemba Walker to 13 points, going 6 of 18 from the floor. LAC had four players score 20 or more points.
Phoenix 115, Sacramento 111: Kelly Oubre Jr: 26-5-4 for the Suns.
Thanks for reading CCI. Reach out at cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter: @ctsbulls. Always a pleasure!