Game Thread GAME# 18: BLAZERS @ BULLS - JANUARY 30, 2021 - SATURDAY, 5:00, NBCSNW

POSTGAME BULLETPOINTS

PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS(10-8) @ CHICAGO BULLS (7-11)

Saturday, January 30, 2021

United Center

Final Score: Trail Blazers 123, Bulls 122


TEAM NOTES:

The Chicago Bulls fell to the Portland Trail Blazers, 123 to 122, knotting the season series at one game apiece. In the previous matchup on Jan.5, Chicago defeated Portland, 111-108. Currently, there are no further scheduled meetings between the two sides.

The Bulls scored 34 points in the first quarter, the second-most they’ve scored this year and the most since they scored 35 on Dec. 31, 2020 in a win over the Washington Wizards. As a team, the Bulls shot 12-24 in the quarter tonight, the first time since Jan. 22 against the Hornets that Chicago was 50% from the field in the first quarter.

In the first half, the Bulls lived up to their standing as one of the most 3-point reliant teams in the NBA. Chicago attempted 27 shots from distance in the first half, making nine of them. Those 27 attempts are the most that the Bulls have attempted this season, eclipsing the 25 they hoisted on Jan. 6 against the Kings.

The 3-point bombardment extended into the second half as well, as the Bulls totaled 45 shots from deep, making 21 of them. The 45 attempts are the second-highest mark of the year for Chicago, and the 21 makes tie for the most this season.

After trailing by 19 points in the third quarter, Chicago took a 103-101 lead with 7:58 remaining in the fourth, using a 33 to 13 scoring run. It was Chicago’s first lead since 6:35 remaining in the second quarter.


PLAYER NOTES:

With eight points in the opening frame, rookie PATRICK WILLIAMS matched his career-high for points in a quarter. He made three out of his four shots from the field and both of his free-throw attempts. His other 8-point quarter occurred on Jan. 10 against the Clippers when he went 75% from the field with two 3-pointers. For the game, Williams had 11 points, his eighth game of the season with double-digit points. He is now tied for seventh among rookies in terms of double-digit scoring outings based on the statistics entering tonight’s games.

ZACH LAVINE, for just the second time in his Bulls career, did not attempt a shot in the first quarter. The only other such time occurred on Dec. 8, 2018 against the Boston Celtics. However, as the game got going, so did he, finishing with 26 points for the night on 12 attempts.

COBY WHITE delivered a strong performance, especially in the first half, pouring in 16 points on just nine shots. Those 16 points were the second-most White has scored in a first half this season. His highest-scoring opening half came on Jan. 6 against the Kings. White’s four first-half assists were his fifth-most in a first half this year. For the game, White shot and converted five free-throws, tied for the most makes and attempts he’s had from the line this season. By shooting 6-11 from the field, White snapped a seven-game streak of shooting 40% or below.

LAURI MARKKANEN scored 31 points to set a season high. By doing so, he surpassed 20 points for the fifth time this season in just 11 games, raising his season scoring average to 19.6, a career-high if maintained over the full season. Markkanen was especially active from 3-point range, making six shots from distance. Markkanen’s previous season-high for 3-pointers this season was four.

Off the bench, THADDEUS YOUNG had yet another productive outing. His 11 rebounds were a season-high and the most he’s had since Feb. 20, 2020. As a passer, Young was even more impressive, as never in his career has he been this proficient in that area. With 11 assists, Young set a new career-high and delivered his fourth game of the year with at least six dimes. In the entirety of 2014-15, Young had five games with at least six assists, the most such games he’s had in a season for his career. But already in 2020-21, in just 14 games, Young has four of those outings. On the defensive end, Young drew his ninth charge of the year, tying him for second in the league according to the leaderboard entering tonight.

The Trail Blazers were led by Damian Lillard and Enes Kanter. Lillard had 44 points, including the game-winner, and Kanter contributed 22 points and 11 rebounds.


Billy Donovan – Bulls Head Coach

On the game:

“I try to look at the game as the totality of 48 minutes. I thought we played really, really well to start the game, and then we played pretty well to start the second quarter. I thought midway through the second quarter to the half, we did not play very good basketball. I thought the first four or five minutes there, the second half, we changed the lineup. We didn’t start off great, we got down by 18 or whatever it was. We just kept fighting. I think there’s a lot of growth in that area for me, and I thought we played a really good, pretty good, second half. But we have to learn how to win and close out these kinds of games. I’ve said this before, sometimes the losing is painful with some of the ways we’ve lost, when you think about Oklahoma City, you think about Golden State, you think about this one. We need to learn and grow from it and get better from it, but I thought we played much better in the second half. I thought we adjusted. I thought their trapping in the first half with Zach [LaVine] really kind of got him out of the game. We turned the ball over quite a bit; we didn’t handle it very well. I thought the second half, the guys did a much, much better job adjusting and making plays.”


On whether or not he wanted to call a timeout:

“No. I saw the ball get inbounded to Zach [LaVine]. I thought we were in pretty good shape, but obviously from my perspective, that’s probably one [timeout] I probably would’ve liked to have used. It kind of went in and we tried to inbound it quickly and got it to Zach. In hindsight, I probably should’ve called a timeout. I probably should’ve done that, and I feel bad about that. Who knows what would’ve happened on the inbound being at a timeout, you never know. We got the ball in bounds. I thought it was a very quick jump ball call in that situation. We got it to Zach, he’s a great free throw shooter. But, obviously looking at the outcome, I would’ve liked to have used a timeout.”


On the team’s performance:

“I really thought we were up and down tonight, I really did. I did not think in a lot of stretches we were very good. But the one thing we’ve kept talking to the guys about is about fighting and having some resiliency and really battling and competing, and they did that, even down 18 [points]. All the talk in the huddles were great, they really, really worked. They played a really good second half. We turned the ball over five times in the first quarter. I think we had eight turnovers through the half. The second half, once we got through the first three or four minutes, I thought we played really, really good basketball. Excuse me, the last, whatever it was, 20 minutes? We were really good: the ball movement, the extra passing, finding the open man, that part of it was really good.”


On the lineup change decision for the second half:

“I think that our bench has been really good this year. We’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of them. They’ve performed very well, especially the last six minutes of the second quarter. I just didn’t think we closed the half with a lot of pop, a lot of energy. With Wendell [Carter, Jr.] being out, just trying to utilize in different lineups, do some different things. They were trapping Zach [LaVine], try to get somebody that could play in the pocket a little bit. I just wanted to try to put the guys out there that I thought, at least starting the third quarter, could give us a little bit of a jolt or a boost. It did not go well, we got down pretty quickly early, so I don’t know how much that really necessarily helped. I think the guys really competed and really did a great job.”


Lauri Markkanen

On Damian Lillard’s buzzer beater:

“He’s one of the few guys in the league who can make that shot consistently. He’s a heck of a player, obviously. I thought I jumped before him and had both my arms up. In that kind of situation, you start thinking about, after the game, the small things that you could’ve done better so we wouldn’t even be in that spot. That’s a tough loss, man. We’ve just got to bounce back from that.”


On if he believes the Bulls can bounce back from this loss:

“Yeah, for sure. Like I’ve said many times, we’ve got a great group of guys who stick together and fight for each other. So, that’s what we’ve got to just keep doing. Just stick together and not go our own ways, and just keep grinding. We’re going to turn it around.”


On what the key teaching moment is from this game:

“Just executing. We shouldn’t be in that position after being up six with that much time on the clock. Even before that, we’ve just got to do a better job down the stretch executing. We’re going to watch film. Like I said, we’ve just got to stick together and we can’t put our heads down. That’s obviously one of the tougher losses we’ve had. We’ve just got to keep our heads up and keep working.”


Terry Stotts – Trail Blazers Head Coach

On jump ball/buzzer beater sequence at the end of the game:

“Well, the whole sequence, between, you know, Dame’s [Damian Lillard] really deep three, the aggressiveness of Garry Trent to get the ball, the timing to win the tip against Zach LaVine was special, to come up with a loose ball, and then to win the shot. The whole sequence of events was quite remarkable to say the least.”


On their challenge of Chicago’s run in the 4th quarter:

“Well, it was definitely challenging. They, you know, surprisingly they shot fewer three’s in the second half and made more. They were really hot. That happens sometimes, but I was proud that we kept playing. We didn’t get dejected, I think as evidenced by the last 15 seconds. The NBA game is a funny game. A lot can happen, and you never know, and that’s why you play the game.”


On Damian Lillard in close games:

“It’s a lot of confidence. I know what Dame’s [Damian Lillard] going to give you. He’s going to give you a lot of effort. He never quits. No matter how far we’re down, he always believes we have a chance to win. And that attitude, and that confidence, it’s infectious.”


On Damian Lillard’s buzzer beater:

“I was just hoping it went in.”


Damian Lillard

On where this game-winner ranks among his career clutch moments:

“I’m not sure. I’d have to see them all in front of me to be able to express how I felt about each one. Usually when I see those plays, I’m able to go back to those moments pretty easily, so I would have to see each play. But I think this one is special because, in these situations where we’re down five, I think, with 11 seconds left, those are the moments where the winning team thinks that they have the game pretty wrapped up, and the opposing team is discouraged.”


On the feeling of watching the game-winner go in:

“It felt great. We’ve had some tough losses lately. We’ve been dealing with injuries and a lot of tough situations for our team, but we’ve been able to battle and stay together. We haven’t made excuses. We haven’t felt bad for ourselves. Each guy that has been put into the rotation that wasn’t in the rotation before has stepped up and been ready to play. And without those guys being prepared and having the mentality that they’ve had, we wouldn’t be in the position for a game-winner to happen or to win any of these games. I think our young guys, Harry [Giles], ‘Naz’ [Nassir Little], ‘Ant’ [Anfernee Simons] haven’t been playing a whole lot. They all deserve a lot of credit for staying ready, and when this moment came, they were able to help the team still compete with a chance to win games.”


On Gary Trent Jr. winning the jump ball:

“That was ambitious, like I said. It took a special effort. It’s crazy because every time we get to the end of the game, I’m always going to the younger guys who are usually in the game because we want to go for a jump ball or have to work to deny passes in. It’s usually ‘Ant’ [Anfernee Simons], me, ‘Hoody’ [Rodney Hood]. If CJ’ healthy it’s CJ [McCollum]. But ‘GT’ [Gary Trent Jr.] and ‘Ant,’ they’ve been out there, so I always tell them, at the end of the game, before you go for a foul, try to tie them up for a jump ball. And, I just say it over and over and over. And, we say it in the huddles, ‘Go for the jump ball first.’ So, for him to have the presence of mind in that situation to just do it and then go for the tip and win the tip against probably the most athletic player in the league, those two plays were equally as important as the game-winner. Because without those plays, there’s no opportunity for it.”