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Chicago Bulls outlasts the Portland Trail Blazers to end road trip on a victorious note
The Chicago Bulls ended their brief road trip on a victorious note, defeating the Portland Trail Blazers, 104-96, to improve to 22-25 for the season. After suffering disheartening losses to the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers in their previous two matches, the Bulls dug deep to repulse a Blazers squad that fought harder than their record suggested.
Six players in double-figures
Veteran wingman DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with 20 points, including a triple and a short jumper that gave the Bulls a 97-89 lead with 3:26 to go in the game. Coby White fell an assist shy of a double-double of 15 points and nine assists, while Andre Drummond came off the bench and chipped in 15 markers.
Nikola Vucevic had 14 points, while rookie Julian Phillips and Ayo Dosunmu, who started instead of the injured Patrick Williams, had 11 points each.
After the game, Bulls coach Billy Donovan lauded his wards for sharing the rock.
“I really thought we tried to share the ball,” Donovan said.
“I think 27 assists on the number of threes that we generated, that we just didn't shoot the ball very well. But I give the guys credit, we hung in there defensively."
Hung their hat on defense
The Bulls played hard-nosed defense all game long and held the Blazers to 40 percent shooting for the night. Chicago’s perimeter defense was also on point as they kept Portland’s shooters uncomfortable all game. The Blazers went 6-for-33 from long distance on Sunday for a miserable 18 percent shooting clip.
The Bulls needed a solid finishing kick to hold off the Blazers, and Dosunmu was happy to oblige, sinking a three-pointer from the right wing to extend their lead to six, 102-96, with only 21 seconds left in the game.
“Anytime you get a win, it always feels good,” Dosunmu said.
