SummerBulls in the LVSL Playoffs: Bobby Portis Leads Way to Win Over Mavericks

After going 3-0 in their three-game slate to be seeded No. 2 in the 2016 Las Vegas Summer League tournament, the Chicago Bulls took on the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night and behind Bobby Portis‘ 19 points, the SummerBulls advanced to the quarterfinals.

There’s been a common trend during the SummerBulls’ unbeaten run in the Las Vegas Summer League: Bobby Portis has been the best player of the floor in each of the four games.

The trend continued on Thursday night, as Portis carried the Bulls to a 86-73 victory over the Dallas Mavericks to advances to the LVSL tournament quarterfinals on Saturday night.

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It didn’t take long for Portis to find a groove against Dallas, scoring 13 of his game-high 19 points in the first quarter to go along with five rebounds.

On top of Portis’ performance, the SummerBulls got 11 points and four assists from first-round pick Denzel Valentine and 15 points (along with another perfect shooting performance) from Cristiano Felicio in the win.

Notes from Thursday’s win for the SummerBulls:

• In the last three games, Cristiano Felicio has taken 20 shot attempts. He’s made 17 of them. (Most of them have been dunks, but shooting 85 percent from the field in a three-game span seems good.)

• Bobby Portis was eerily quiet in the second half after his hot start in the first half, taking just two shots (making one). Still, Portis was once again the best player on the floor and it didn’t take long for the audience tuned in to see that.

• There were two other Bulls in the house other than Fred Hoiberg for the win over Dallas: Jimmy Butler and Doug McDermott. During the first half, ESPN’s Cassidy Hubbarth interviewed McDermott in the stands and the third-year wing mentioned that he’s yet to select a new number with Dwyane Wade wearing No. 3 next season. McDermott also said that Wade has yet to give him a gift for giving the 12-time All-Star his patented No. 3.

• Also, Butler won some amount of money from McDermott for this jumper during a stoppage of play in the third quarter on Thursday. Who says the new “big 3” for the Bulls can’t shoot threes?

• Something that worked late for the Bulls in their win over Dallas: the two-man game with Denzel Valentine and Cristiano Felicio. Both will see minutes in the Bulls’ second unit this season, so building that trust and understanding offensively is good to see during their time in Vegas.

Jon Barry, we need to talk

If this was 2012, there’s a good chance that the actual Bulls win 45-50 games this season. But, it’s 2016 and this thought was pretty humorous during the ESPN broadcast.

Next: Dwyane Wade joins LeBron, CP3 and Melo for awesome opening to 2016 ESPY Awards

What’s next for the SummerBulls?

They’ll play the No. 7 seed in the LVSL tournament quarterfinals: the Washington Wizards. Tip-off in Vegas is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT on Saturday, July 16. The channel has yet to be determined, but it will likely be on ESPN 2 or NBA TV on Saturday night.