The Chicago Bulls (34-38) hit the road this evening to tip-off a three-game West Coast swing with the first stop in Portland to take on the Trail Blazers (32-40) for the second and final time this season. The Bulls came away with a hard-fought, 129-121, victory in the series opener back home at the United Center in early February. If they can win again this evening, it will be the first time Chicago will have swept the Trail Blazers since 2006-07.
In the series opener, Trail Blazers All-Star Damian Lillard’s name was circled in red on Chicago’s scouting report, but no matter how many double and triple-teams the Bulls used on him, Lillard refused to shrink from the moment, as he finished the night with a game-best 40 points. But as good as he was, Lillard couldn’t hold-off a gritty, team effort from Chicago.
Powered by Zach LaVine’s 36-points, and DeMar DeRozan’s 27, as well as center Nikola Vučević’s double-double of 23 points and 11rebounds, the Bulls were able to claw back from a 17-point deficit to end up as the last team standing.
Chicago shot a blistering 60% (48-for-80) from the field and did a terrific job of sharing the ball in recording 32 assists. Portland didn’t play poorly, as they did score 121 points on 50.6% overall shooting, but the Bulls dominated the boards, 41-33, and also completely shut the Blazers out when it came to second-chance scoring while Chicago posted 14 points on their own.
As for tonight, here are a couple of things to keep in mind as the Bulls look to start their final West Coast swing off on the right foot. After tonight, the team heads to Los Angeles to meet the Lakers and Clippers, respectively, for a Sunday-Monday back-to-back before heading back to the Windy City for a rematch against the Lakers on Wednesday.
Fans can catch tonight’s game beginning at 9:00 p.m. CST on NBC Sports Chicago.
TICKET TO RIDE!
The Bulls come in as the 10th seed in the East, a game-and-a-half in front of Indiana and a half-game behind Toronto for the 9th spot and an extra, postseason home game.
Including tonight there are just 10 games left to play in the regular season. Teams that finish seeded 8-10 take part in the NBA’s play-in tournament to earn a ticket to the playoffs. So every opportunity Chicago has to gain ground on the teams chasing them, as well as those directly in front, is something that needs to be taken very seriously.
THE ROAD TO SUCCESS
For the Bulls to win games, they have to take the floor with a stubborn, blue-collar mentality and look to relentlessly attack both offensively and defensively on every possession.
Offensively, Chicago must come out of the gates and establish a quick and inclusive tempo, with everyone running the floor and crashing the boards looking to rebound every missed shot. The Bulls also have to generously share the ball with one another, and not passively place the burden on just one or two teammates to do all the heavy lifting.
Every Bulls player must be actively involved in the action and willing to do whatever is necessary to make something positive happen. That could be jumping passing lanes, diving onto the floor for a loose ball, as well as rotating off their assigned man to provide solid help defense.
As a team, Chicago hits the floor averaging 113.2 points (20th) while shooting an impressive 48.8% (6th) from the field. On the defensive end, they give up 112.5 points (10th), and hold opponents to 46.6% (6th) shooting. Since Jan. 1, the Bulls are the NBA’s No. 2 ranked team with a defensive rating of 110.6, and for the season, they’re currently tied for 5th with a rating of 111.8.
Chicago also ranks in the top-10 in several other gritty categories, ranking No. 1 in contesting three-point shots (20.8) per game, No. 3 in total three-point shots contested (1,497), and 5th in defensive loose balls recovered (2.5) per game, and 10th in steals (7.7) per game.
More often than not, at least two of Chicago’s “Big 3” of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vučević need to play at a high level for Chicago to win. As mentioned earlier, LaVine tallied 36 points in the last meeting with the Blazers. The 28-year-old, two-time All-Star has also scored 20+ points against Portland in each of his last four games against them. Over his last 10 games, LaVine has been on fire, averaging 29.9 points while shooting 51.5% from the floor and 42.9% from behind the three-point arc.
Vučević is also averaging 25.4 points and 12.6 rebounds in his last five versus Portland. The veteran pivot has also recorded five-straight double-doubles against the Blazers, while DeRozan has also enjoyed success against Portland throughout his career, averaging 23.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists over 29 games.
It’s also not a coincidence that when Chicago collectively hits the glass, good things happen. Coming into tonight, the Bulls are 21-7 this season when they outrebound their opponent, and 28-19 whenever Vučević grabs 10+ rebounds.
Something else to keep tabs on this evening is the health of DeRozan and Alex Caruso, as both players, as of this writing, have been listed as questionable. DeRozan re-aggravated a right quad strain during Wednesday’s home loss to Philadelphia. It’s the same injury that sidelined him earlier this season for five games in January and February.
Caruso has also missed Chicago’s last two games after leaving early against Miami last Saturday upon re-aggravating a nagging left foot sprain. The other night Caruso warmed up with the intention of playing against Philly but was scratched at the last minute for what was termed “an abundance of caution” after experiencing some discomfort in his foot.
Both DeRozan and Caruso are key players for the Bulls, and if they’re able to play, that certainly helps Chicago’s chances of winning. However, even if they cannot play, Chicago must put that disappointment aside and come out energized, focused and poised, especially whenever the Blazers turn up the pressure. On Wednesday against Philadelphia, the Bulls were very lethargic from start to finish, failing to match the Sixers’ energy, as they quickly lost control of the game after falling behind 17-0 after just a few minutes.
With only 10 games left on the calendar, Chicago has to dig deep and find a way to fight through adversity.