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Bobby Portis With Big Spark in Bulls LVSL Opener

By Michael Whitlow

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Yeah, it’s just the Las Vegas Summer League, and yeah, he’s playing against young stars like himself, but Chicago Bulls draft pick Bobby Portis couldn’t have gotten his NBA career off to a better start than the one he had on Saturday in his debut.

Bobby Portis played against the mighty Kentucky Wildcats on two different occasions last season during Kentucky’s 38-0 run to (almost) perfection.

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The reigning SEC Player of the Year didn’t have a great time in either meeting, as his Arkansas Razorbacks were trounced twice by the nation’s most dominant team.

A big reason for Portis’ lack of success against the Wildcats was the play of this year’s top overall pick, Karl-Anthony Towns. (Plus, Kentucky was just that stacked last season.)

Portis took those two losses to heart in his Las Vegas Summer League debut on Saturday against Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves in a 84-71 Bulls victory to open their summer slate. Nobody would deny that Portis was the best player on the floor for either team (including Towns), scoring 23 points in 27 minutes of action on Saturday, to go along with seven rebounds.

Along with his game-high 23 points, Portis drained a trio of triples on four attempts from beyond the arc. His game is still evolving, but for a 20-year-old kid that took just 30 three-point attempts last season, to take four in his NBA debut, is a sign of aggressive and a lack of fear.

When asked in his post-game interviews about facing off against Towns once again, Portis said, “I just felt like it was a great opportunity for me to show the world what Bobby Portis can do. I was a guy that was passed up on by a lot of teams, so I wanted to show the world what I can do.”

While Portis was lighting it up in his debut, Towns was rather quiet for the Wolves, scoring just nine points on 4-of-11 shooting with nine rebounds.

86. 84. 24. Final. 71

With Portis leading the way, the Bulls kicked their summer circuit off right with a solid offensive showing under rookie head coach Fred Hoiberg. Last year’s first-round pick Doug McDermott chipped in 20 points and five rebounds, while the Bulls shot just under 48 percent from the floor in the opener (30-for-63, 47.6%).

Former La Salle guard Ramon Galloway scored 17 points and dished out nine assists, including this difficult and-one over Towns in the second quarter.

The Bulls are off and running in Vegas under Hoiberg, and the first-year head man was rather pleased with his team’s performance on Saturday.

“It was fun,” Hoiberg said. “In college, you have a pregame meal with your team. Here, you’re kind of on your own so I grabbed one of the assistants and wrote down some notes at lunch. The big thing is trusting your guys. You put in a system and hope they go out and execute, and I thought our guys did a great job.”

Sunday night will be the second game for the Bulls, as they hit the floor in Vegas against the Toronto Raptors. Tip-off is set for 5 PM CT on NBA TV.

Next: What to watch for in Bulls LVSL action

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