There’s no shortage of self-confidence emanating from the Bulls these days.
From Denzel Valentine’s recent declaration that the Bulls are “one of the best teams in the East” to Nikola Mirotic’s assertion on New Year’s Eve that they will have “options to be in the playoffs” if they stay healthy, belief is in abundance.
But like a lasting hangover, New Year’s Day arrived with more reality. The Bulls’ seven-game home winning streak ended with a disappointing 124-120 loss to the Trail Blazers in overtime.
And despite 18 points and 10 rebounds in just 18 minutes, 44 seconds, Mirotic sat glued to the bench for the final 12 minutes, 34 seconds.
Coach Fred Hoiberg opted for a closing big-man rotation of Robin Lopez and Lauri Markkanen despite the fact Mirotic and Bobby Portis, who had 14 points and seven rebounds in just more than 17 minutes, both had it going.
Lopez was in to guard Trail Blazers big man Jusuf Nurkic. Markkanen shot well and finished with 19 points and eight rebounds.
“I just thought with Nurkic out there we needed to find a way to keep him off the glass. He’s too big and strong. I felt we needed Robin, who was also playing well,” Hoiberg said. “Niko has a little back issue going on. He’s pretty sore. But he’ll be fine.”
Mirotic took the high road.
“Obviously I wish I was there playing,” he said. “I had a little issue after the second quarter with my lat, a lat strain. But I felt good in the third quarter, making some shots. Fred chose to play with Lauri and Lopez, which is great, and we couldn’t get that win unfortunately. We keep moving forward and we try and find a way to win the next game against Toronto.’’
C.J. McCollum rallied from an 0-for-7 start to finish with 32 points and eight assists, scoring the go-ahead basket on a drive with 56.5 seconds left. Kris Dunn, who finished with 22 points, seven rebounds and eight of the Bulls’ 12 turnovers, missed a mid-range jumper.
After Shabazz Napier also missed from mid-range, Dunn airballed an attempt from the lane under a strong contest from Napier. McCollum iced matters with two free throws with 3.3 seconds left.
“To be honest, when I came off the screen, I was trying to get RoLo on the pocket pass. They did a good job with that,” Dunn said. “I was trying to look out for the kickout to the guys. Credit to them. They got back to them. I saw I was deep in the paint and I felt I was bigger than the guard that was guarding me. I tried to rise over him. But I didn’t get my legs under me. I didn’t shoot the shot correctly. That’s on me.”
The Bulls, who fell to 6-1 all-time at home playing on New Year’s Day, placed seven in double figures. But for the second straight day, they failed to make the closing plays.
Al-Farouq Aminu scored 24 points and Evan Turner added 22 as the Trail Blazers prevailed without leading scorer Damian Lillard.
Markkanen and McCollum both missed good looks on the teams’ final possessions in regulation, Markkanen’s coming from beyond the arc.
“It’s disappointing,” Dunn said. “When it comes to winning close games, we’ve done it before.”
Twitter @kcjhoop
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