GAME NIGHT FROM THE UNITED CENTER
Portland (5-12, 4-8 on the road) at Bulls (6-11, 3-6 at home)
TV: NBCSC: Neil Funk and Stacey King. 7PM
RADIO: 670 The Score. : Chuck Swirsky, Bill Wennington and David Schuster. 6:45 pre.
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: LaVine: 21 ppg. Portland: Lillard: 28 ppg.
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Carter: 9 per. Portland: Whiteside: 12 per.
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: Satoransky: 5 per. Portland: Lillard: 7 per.
PREVIEW: Fresh off an electrifying come from behind victory in Charlotte, the Bulls look to win two straight for the first time this season as they take on the injury-riddled Portland Trailblazers. Zach LaVine was simply magnificent scoring a career-high 49 points, draining a franchise record 13 three-point field goals, seven coming in the fourth quarter. As is the case in any game, it's more than just one player that wins or loses a game. Tomas Satoransky hit a big three-ball late in the fourth quarter as did Coby White. Ryan Arcidiacono with active hands was instrumental in setting up LaVine's game-winning shot.
Portland is struggling on the glass with two of their better bigs, Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins, sidelined for an extended period of time with injuries. Veteran Hassan Whiteside has missed the past two games with a hip ailment. He is listed as probable on the NBA injury report.
Damian Lillard returned to the Blazers lineup in Cleveland after missing the previous two games with back spasms. It's obvious he's not 100% but he is a tremendous competitor and a future Hall of Fame player. Carmelo Anthony joined the Blazers last week and will attempt to take the pressure off Lillard and CJ McCollum. McCollum is a terrific talent and coupled with Lillard score a combined 50 points per game. This is Portland's 13th road game, tops in the NBA and their sixth and last on their current road trip.
24 SECONDS NBA NEWS AND NOTES:
Dallas 137, Houston 123: The Mavs are tied for third in the Western Conference with an 11-5 record. Luka Doncic is simply amazing. He scored 41 points. Tim Hardaway Jr added a season-high 31.
Los Angeles Clippers 134, New Orleans 109: Montrezl Harrell tied his career-high with 34 points.
Brooklyn 103, New York 101: The Nets hit the .500 mark and the Knicks fell to 4-13. Spencer Dinwiddie is hoopin' with 30 points and doing a fantastic job stepping in for the injured Kyrie Irving.
Sacramento 113, Washington 106: The Kings have won seven of ten games.
Denver 116, Sacramento 104: The Nuggets keep rolling improving to 12-3, 7-2 at home. Three Denver starters combined for 67 points.
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