Bulls Get the W
The Chicago Bulls (30-18) are back in the UC to take on the Portland Trial Blazers (21-28). Both teams come in shorthanded with key players missing as the Bulls will be hoping to bounce back after Fridays defeat to the Spurs. Bench scoring could be crucial for the Bulls tonight.
1ST HALF
1st Quarter - Blazers can't seem to miss a 3 as they start 6/7. This seems to be a real problem for the Bulls lately. At the end of quarter the Bulls are down 35-29.
Bulls
Vooch, Green 7pts
LaVine 5pts
3/8 3s
Blazers
McCollum 9pts
Simons 8pts
7/11 3s
2nd Quarter - The Bulls need some perimeter D if they're going to stop this game getting away from them. Seems like Coby White doesn't want to be outshot and comes out hot, dropping three 3's and it's looking like quite a turnaround from the Bulls. Still conceding to 3's, but also making it count at the other end with some huge dunks and plays. Bulls win the quarter, 44-30, and take a nice lead of 73-65 heading into halftime.
HALFTIME STATS
Bulls
Vucevic: 14 pts, 7 reb
DeRozan: 13 pts, 8 ast
LaVine: 13 pts, 2 ast
8/18 3s
Blazers
Powell 17pts
McCollum 16pts
Simons 14pts
12/22 3s
2ND HALF
3rd Quarter - Bulls will want to come out a lot stronger in the 3rd than they have recently and with Deebo getting hot at the end of 2nd, they need that to continue. Bulls playing a little bit of both through the quarter as they get up big and then let the Blazers back into it. While a close quarter the Bulls still end up winning it 31-27 and maintain the lead at 104-92
Bulls
LaVine, Vooch 20pts
Deebo 18pts
11/25 3s
Blazers
Powell 22pts
McCollum 20pts
Simons 17pts
17/33 3s
4th Quarter - Bulls will want to put this to bed early rather than implode again as they have been. Seems like a good time for Deebo 4th Quarter King to show out. The Bulls end the game without a 4th quarter panic and take the W 130-116.
POSTGAME STATS
Vooch: 24p/14r/3a/1s/1b
DeMar: 23p/4r/10a/2s
Zach: 20p/2r/4a/1s/1b
Coby: 18p/3r/6a
Woo: 16p/3r/1a/1s/1b
Tony: 10p/6r/3s
Matt: 9p/2r
Ayo: 7p/6r/11a/2s
Troy: 3p/3r/1a
13/32 3s
Blazers
McCollum 29pts
Powell 22pts
Simons 21 pts
18/39 3s
Final Takeaway
Bulls get the W and avoid the collapse even though they were outshot from beyond the arc 46%-40%. There was some great ball movement from Ayo and Deebo as they had 10+ assists each. The defence is still clearly struggling without AC and Ball but a big game from Vooch helped massively and seemed to be the difference in this game. Some better scoring off the bench would've certainly helped the Bulls tonight, but Tony Bradley still came through with 10 pts while he was on the court. It was a tough game to judge clearly due to the amount of talent missing on both sides but the Bulls will definitely take the win here.
NEXT UP: Bulls go again Tuesday against the Magic and will be keen for revenge.
Player of the Game
A tough 1 tonight for all the right reasons and a number of players could get it: Deebo, Vooch, Ayo, Javonte, but I'm going with DeMar DeRozan. Purely because he was getting the points, but also moving the ball well. He was cooking at the right time for the Bulls all night as he finishes with a slash of 23p/4r/10a/2s.
-Matt H (Twitter:@matthearn1)
