DeMar DeRozan had 20 points, Ayo Dosunmu drilled a backbreaking 3-pointer with 21 seconds left and the Chicago Bulls capped a three-game Western swing with a 104-96 win over the host Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night.
After trailing most of the game, Portland got within 92-89 when Anfernee Simons bombed in a 3-pointer with 4:37 to go. But DeRozan countered immediately with a three of his own and an interior hoop, pushing the visitors’ lead back to eight.
The Trail Blazers made one more push, narrowing the gap to 99-96 with still 40.1 seconds to play on a layup by Simons.
Needing a stop and a 3-pointer to force overtime, Portland then watched as Dosunmu hit his first 3-pointer of the game after three failures, doubling the margin and allowing the Bulls to coast home.
Down by as many as 11 points and held to 42 points in the first half, the Trail Blazers caught fire in the third quarter, rallying within 76-75 by period’s end. Jerami Grant had 14 of Portland’s 33 points in the quarter, while Deandre Ayton (12) and Malcolm Brogdon (seven) combined for the other 19.
But Andre Drummond converted a three-point play 16 seconds into the fourth period, then added another interior hoop to stretch Chicago’s lead to 81-75, and Portland was never able to fully catch up.
DeRozan complemented his team-high point total with a team-high-tying seven rebounds for Chicago, which was coming off road losses to the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers.
Drummond also had seven rebounds to go with 15 points off the bench and Nikola Vucevic grabbed seven rebounds to complement 14 points. Coby White chipped in with 15 points and a game-high nine assists, and Julian Phillips added 11 points.
Grant was the game’s leading scorer with 24 points, 13 coming at the free throw line in 16 attempts. Portland, which has lost two straight and four of its last five games, stayed in it by going 26 of 29 at the line, while Chicago was just 12 of 17.
Ayton logged a double-double with 22 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, while Brogdon finished with 16 points and Simons had 11 to accompany a team-high eight assists and seven rebounds.
–Field Level Media