FINAL FROM THE UNITED CENTER:
Portland 117, Bulls 94 (Bulls 6-12, 3-7 at home)
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: LaVine: 18pts. Portland: Anthony: 25pts.
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Carter: 9. Portland: Whiteside: 12.
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: LaVine and Satoransky each with 5. Portland: Lillard: 12.
STAT OF THE NIGHT: Portland outrebounded the Bulls 55-37.
RECAP: The Blazers outscored the Bulls 55-40 in the second half to put the game away. Carmelo Anthony playing in just his fourth game with Portland scored a game-high 25 points. After making 22 three-point field goals against the Hornets, the Bulls connected on only nine against the Blazers and shot 23% from behind the arc. Rebounding and turnovers hurt the Bulls as the Blazers out boarded the Bulls 55-37, Portland scored 24 points off of 17 Bulls turnovers.
UP Next: At Golden State Wednesday.
24 SECONDS NBA NEWS AND NOTES:
Milwaukee 122, Utah 118: The Bucks go to 14-3. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a season-high 50 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for his 17th double-double of the season.
Toronto 101, Philadelphia 96: The Raps held Joel Embiid scoreless for the first time in his career. Embiid went 0-11 from the field.
Los Angeles Lakers 114, San Antonio 104: The Lakers are soaring, improving to 15-2. LeBron James with a 33-14 night. The Spurs have lost 11 of their last 13 games.
Brooklyn 108, Cleveland 106: The Eastern Conference Player of the Week, Spencer Dinwiddie scored with 1.9 seconds left to propel the Nets to their fourth straight win. The Nets are 5-1 without their leading scorer Kyrie Irving.
Detroit 103, Orlando 88: The Magic are really hurting without Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon.
Indiana 126, Memphis 114: The Grizzlies have lost four straight. The rejuvenated Pacers have won three straight and seven of nine.
Minnesota 125, Atlanta 113: The T-Wolves bench scored 46 points. The Hawks are giving up a ton of points and fell to 4-13.
Boston 103, Sacramento 102: In a loss, Buddy Hield scored a career-high 41 points. He nailed 11 three-point field goals. The Kings host the Bulls Monday.
Miami 117, Charlotte 104: CCI loves Bam Adebayo. Enough said: 21 points and 13 rebounds, his ninth double-double on the season. Kelly Olynyk had a career-high 16 rebounds.
Oklahoma City 100, Golden State 97: The Thunder win for the first time on the road scoring the final 13 points of the game. Golden State hosts the Bulls Wednesday with a league-worst 3-15 record.
Prior to the game, I reconnected with former Westinghouse High School and Bradley University Star, Hersey Hawkins. Hawkins played one season for his hometown Bulls during the 1999-2000 season. He was an NBA All-Star with Seattle in 1991. Hersey is an outstanding person who always finds positivity in everything he encounters. He works in Portland's front office, great man!
Thanks for reading CCI. Reach out: cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter @ctsbulls
Always a pleasure.