Zach LaVine scored 36 points to help the host Chicago Bulls overcome a 17-point deficit in the third quarter and post a 129-121 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday.
LaVine made 11 of 18 shots from the floor — including 5 of 10 from 3-point range. He also made all nine of his free-throw attempts to rebound from a 10-point performance in the Bulls’ 114-98 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday.
Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan collected 27 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, and Nikola Vucevic had 23 points and 11 rebounds. Ayo Dosunmu added 13 points for the Bulls, who outscored Portland by a 33-17 margin in the third quarter en route to posting their sixth win in the last nine games.
Portland’s Damian Lillard scored 28 of his 40 points in the first half. He drained five 3-pointers and made all 11 of his foul shots to reach the 30-point plateau for the sixth time in seven games.
Anfernee Simons also sank five 3-pointers and finished with 27 points for the Trail Blazers, who saw their three-game winning streak come to a halt.
Drew Eubanks’ dunk trimmed Chicago’s lead to 105-104 before the Bulls went on a 12-0 run, with Vucevic scoring seven points in that sequence. Simons sank three 3-pointers and Trendon Watford added one of his own to cut Chicago’s advantage to 123-119.
Portland, however, was unable to draw any closer.
Lillard sank a 3-pointer to push Portland’s lead to 80-63 with 6:38 remaining in the third quarter before Chicago responded with a flourish. Dosunmu connected three times from beyond the arc and LaVine added one of his own to highlight a 24-4 run to give the Bulls a three-point advantage.
Coby White drained a 3-pointer to trim Portland’s lead to 59-55 with 3:12 to play in the second quarter before the Trail Blazers went on an 11-4 run to end the session. Jerami Grant, Simons and Watford each made a 3-pointer to highlight that surge.
–Field Level Media
