Final
Blazers dominate Bulls for sixth straight win
Nov 22, 2014 - 7:08 AM Portland, OR (SportsNetwork.com) - Damian Lillard had 21 points and nine assists in three quarters of work as the Portland Trail Blazers thrashed the Chicago Bulls 105-87 on Friday night.LaMarcus Aldridge added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Blazers, who won their sixth straight game.
"Obviously Chicago didn't have three of their main guys, but I liked our demeanor," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said.
Nikola Mirotic supplied 24 points and 11 boards for Chicago, which was without point guard Derrick Rose and power forward Pau Gasol again. Rose missed his fourth consecutive game with a hamstring injury, while Gasol didn't play for a third time in a row due to a left calf strain.
The Bulls lost forward Taj Gibson in the third quarter of this one with a left ankle sprain.
"It's just the same lingering injury," Gibson said. "I keep trying to play through it, try and be there for my teammates. I pushed through a whole summer of trying to rehab the same ankle and it just keeps flaring up."
The Blazers led by as many as 17 in the opening frame before the Bulls cut the gap to 39-35 in the second.
Portland later responded with an 18-2 run and were never threatened again.
Lillard hit consecutive triples at one point and netted eight points during the surge. Allen Crabbe capped the surge with a dunk to stake Portland to a healthy 59-39 advantage late in the first half.
The Blazers led 61-43 at the break and by as many as 28 in the third before settling for an 89-65 cushion heading into the fourth, where they cruised to the easy win.
Earlier, Aldridge and Lillard nailed triples in the first few minutes as Portland raced out to an 18-3 margin.
The spread swelled to 26-9 late in the first.
A 10-2 Bulls flurry pulled them within 30-21, but Chris Kaman's reverse at the horn gave the Blazers a 32-21 lead going into the second.
Game Notes
The Blazers held a 48-28 points in the paint advantage ... Portland shot 49.4 percent (39-of-79) from the field and 9-of-16 from beyond the arc ... The Bulls shot just 36.1 percent (30-of-83) from the floor.
Nov 22 12:57 AM- CHICAGO: 65
PORTLAND: 89
End of 3rd
Nov 22 12:21 AM - CHICAGO: 43
PORTLAND: 61
Halftime
Nov 21 11:37 PM - CHICAGO: 21
PORTLAND: 32
End of 1st
Nov 21 11:06 PM - CHICAGO: 0
PORTLAND: 0
1st Quarter - 11:40
Nov 21 10:42 PM
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