Chicago Bulls vs. Portland Trail Blazers Instant Analysis: Wade Drops 34 in Loss

The Chicago Bulls hobbled home from a bad loss against the Dallas Mavericks, looking to get back to their winning ways.

Next: Bulls vs. Mavericks Takeaways

Not so fast, Bulls fans.  If you’re like me, you pulled out your phone around 11 a.m. today and read that Rajon Rondo had been suspended due conduct detrimental to the team.  Even with the day starting off on the wrong foot for the Bulls, there very much was optimism in the air because last time the Portland Trailblazers were the opponent, the Bulls rolled past them (without Rondo I may add) 113-88.

The game started with a lot of offense and not much defense as both teams got off to hot starts shooting the ball.  The Bulls’ Dwyane Wade shot five of six from the field with 11 points. Trail Blazers’ point guard Damian Lillard, who came into tonight’s contest averaging 27.8 points per game, also finished the first quarter with 11 points.

Jimmy Butler finished the first with nine points, four rebounds and three assists. And one emphatic dunk down the lane! 

The Bulls continued doing what they do really well: Rebound the ball.  Robin Lopez and Taj Gibson really have a knack for getting a hand on the ball and swatting it back to the guards or even getting a mitt on it with a put back.

As the game progressed, so did Wade’s scoring column.  Wade had 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field to end the second quarter.  The encouraging part about Wade is he looked fresh and eager to contribute after a night off in Dallas Saturday. The Bulls are playing it smart with their veteran guard, and I have to say that move is probably best.

Denzel Valentine has continued to look more comfortable on the floor, even if I’m not 100 percent sold he’s the right fit in Chicago.  The rookie made a great full-court pass which resulted in an easy bucket for Butler and allowing the Bulls to take a lead late in the second quarter.

The story of the first half was truly the Trail Blazers were able to get whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted.  Chicago finished the first half down 57-65 at the half.  Damian Lillard went into halftime with 17 points and five assists.  But that’s not it. The three starting guards for the Trail Blazers – Lillard, McCollum and Crabbe – went into halftime with 45 of the Trailblazer’s 65 points.   

The Bulls came out of halftime on fire with a 12-1 run, including flashes of “Vintage Wade” during the course of the game.  Wade casually made a smooth turn-around jumper late in the third quarter giving him 27 points and a full quarter still to go.

Chicago opened the fourth quarter with an 87-86 lead, but went cold very quickly, at one point shooting an icy 3-of-16 from the field.  

The difference of the game was the guard play of the Portland guards.  One cannot expect to win a game when three guards score 71 against you.  Lillard looked better prepared this time around facing the Bulls, finishing with 30 points, seven assists and four rebounds.  McCollum finished with 24 points including 4-of-7 from 3-point range.

As usual, somebody besides Wade or Butler is going to have to step up if Bulls want to come back and win games.  One encouraging and positive note from this game is Nikola Mirotic had a solid game, scoring 18 points including 3-of-4 from 3-point land. Hopefully, this is the game that can get his confident going forward.

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Jimmy continued to Jimmy things out there, scoring at least 20 points a game for the 14th consecutive game.  Now that’s impressive.

The Bulls only have one sleep before facing their next opponent, the Detroit Pistons, who they will play in Detroit at 6:30 PM CT.