Field Level Media
Nov 30, 2019
In a game that saw neither team shoot better than 46 percent, the Portland Trail Blazers eked out a 107-103 win over the Chicago Bulls on Friday in Portland.
Portland had another balanced scoring effort in its third consecutive win, led by 28 points from Damian Lillard, 23 from Carmelo Anthony, 20 from CJ McCollum and 19 from Rodney Hood.
Defense was a key for Portland in the victory, including a franchise-record 10 blocks for Hassan Whiteside to go along with eight points and 15 rebounds.
Chicago, meanwhile, got a big scoring output from Zach LaVine, who put up 28 points on the game. He was supplemented by 16 points from Wendell Carter Jr. and 13 apiece from Lauri Markkanen and Coby White.
The game began to break Portland's way with just over seven minutes to go as Whiteside's eighth block of the night ignited a fast break that ended with Anthony hitting a 3-pointer. Portland led 91-84 at that point and hung on to its advantage from there.
The Bulls kept the game close down the stretch, but the offensive success of Anthony and Lillard -- combined with the defense and rebounding effort of Whiteside -- proved too much for a young Chicago team in the final minutes.
With Portland up 105-103, Whiteside's tip brought the game to its final score with 8.8 seconds left.
The Blazers have a three-day weekend ahead of them before a Tuesday night tilt with the Clippers in Los Angeles. It will be a quick road trip for Portland before a four-game homestand that starts on Wednesday against Sacramento.
Chicago, meanwhile, will play in Sacramento on Monday to wrap up its three-game west coast road jaunt. The Bulls are losers of four of their last five games and hope to avoid going 0-3 on the road trip.
--Field Level Media