The Chicago Bulls ended a five-game slide earlier this week, and now look to land a split of a four-game road trip when they face the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.
The Bulls saw their splendid 6-1 start diminish into a .500 record before notching a solid 130-127 victory over the host Denver Nuggets on Monday night.
Early-season sensation Josh Giddey had 21 points, 14 rebounds and six assists to lead the Chicago charge.
Giddey said “badly, badly” when asked how much the Bulls needed a win.
“It’s tough when you go from winning five in a row and 6-1 and then go on a five-game losing streak,” Giddey said. “That’s when it’s easy as a team to separate and kind of split. So credit to our group. We stuck together, did all the right things leading to this game. We knew coming in this was a tough place to play, tough team to beat, and (we) responded really well.”
Giddey, 23, is averaging team-best figures of 21.8 points, 10.3 rebounds and 9.4 assists in 11 games during his second season with the Bulls.
In the 2024-25 campaign, Giddey averaged 14.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists.
Chicago has shown solid balance early this season, and it was on display against the Nuggets. The Bulls held a 66-9 edge in bench points.
Ayo Dosunmu led the reserves with 21 points on Monday. He is averaging 15.7 points while playing just 25.5 minutes per game.
“A couple of guys out, our second unit was unbelievable,” Giddey said. “You give them all the credit. They kept us in the game when our first unit wasn’t playing well.”
Guard Coby White is expected to play against Portland. He sat out against Denver on the end of a back-to-back after returning from a calf injury one night earlier in a 150-147 double-overtime loss to the Utah Jazz.
White had 27 points and eight assists in 30 minutes at Salt Lake City in his season debut.
The Bulls are looking to defeat the Trail Blazers for the seventh time in a span of eight meetings.
Portland lost 127-110 to the visiting Phoenix Suns on Tuesday for its third straight loss and fifth in the past six games.
The Trail Blazers trailed by three at halftime but were outscored 36-21 in the third quarter. Portland shot 5-for-22 (22.7%) and committed eight turnovers in the decisive period.
Trail Blazers interim coach Tiago Splitter said his team couldn’t keep up.
“We don’t have the energy to play fast how we want, so we play slower and slower,” Splitter said. “We have to play guys who are clearly in development roles.”
Portland’s Shaedon Sharpe scored a game-high 29 points to continue his torrid production. He fell one point shy of his fourth 30-point effort in five games.
Splitter expects point guard Jrue Holiday (calf) to sit out for the third straight game. Jerami Grant (illness) also missed the Phoenix game.
With Portland short-handed in the backcourt, rookie Caleb Love played 32 minutes against the Suns and had season highs of 17 points and seven rebounds.
However, the Suns racked up 19 steals with ball-handlers in short supply for the Trail Blazers.
Portland’s top point guard, Scoot Henderson, hasn’t taken the court this season after injuring his left hamstring in late September.
Henderson told The Athletic prior to the Tuesday game that he is still limited to stationary dribbling and shooting.
“I can walk around to spots, but no jumping, no exploding,” Henderson said. “I shoot free throws, some ball-handling, but without moving much.”
Henderson, 21, was the third overall selection of the 2023 NBA Draft. He averaged 13.3 points and 5.2 assists in 128 games (42 starts) over the past two seasons.
