Gibson hurt as ailing Bulls again fall
Portland is a tough place to win games under normal circumstances.
The Bulls faced the ultimate uphill climb late Friday night. Not only were they missing Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol once again, but guard Kirk Hinrich joined the injured list with a chest contusion.
Not only that, the Bulls were playing the second leg of back-to-back games after losing to Sacramento on Thursday, while the Trail Blazers had been off since Monday.
The end result was a 105-87 loss to the Blazers.
The news got worse for the Bulls when forward Taj Gibson went down midway through the third quarter, clutching his left ankle and groaning in pain. Gibson was helped into the locker room and his injury was reported as a sprained ankle.
Gibson was trying to get in position to score under the basket and stepped on the foot of Portland's Wesley Matthews. Gibson's left ankle turned inward, which is unusual in itself, and he hit the floor immediately, throwing the ball at the rim as he fell.
Nikola Mirotic led the Bulls with 24 points and Aaron Brookes added a dozen. Damian Lillard led the Blazers with 21 points and Lemarcus Aldridge chipped in 16.
The Bulls made a good run in the second quarter with a lineup of reserves, but they trailed by 28 points midway through the third. The deficit was 89-65 at the end of three.
A few minutes before Gibson's injury, there was more trouble for the Bulls when Mike Dunleavy was called for a flagrant foul.
The possession began with the Bulls giving up several offensive rebounds. After failing to come up with the ball while battling on the boards, Joakim Noah hit the floor while holding his face. So maybe Dunleavy was looking to retaliate, although it appeared on replays that teammate Jimmy Butler was most likely the player who struck Noah.
But when the ball was kicked out to Lillard on the perimeter, Dunleavy knocked him to the floor as he released a 3-point shot. Matthews shoved Dunleavy and players on both sides exchanged words. After watching the replay, referees assessed a grade one flagrant, which meant no ejection.
The Bulls got off to a horrible start, falling behind 18-3. At that point, the Bulls were 1-for-12 from the field, while Portland had made 8 of 9 shots.
The Blazers' first-quarter lead peaked at 26-9 before the Bulls found some footing by going deep into the bench. Using a lineup that included guard E'Twaun Moore and veteran center Nazr Mohammed, the Bulls closed within 4 points in the second quarter.
Moore, an East Chicago, Ind. native, hadn't yet scored this season, but he had 7 points in the first half.
The fun didn't last long for the Bulls. When Lillard checked back in, he drained consecutive 3-pointers to begin a 14-0 run. By halftime, the Blazers' lead was back up to 61-43.
Hinrich got hurt in the Sacramento game. It was easy to point to Hinrich taking a charge on DeMarcus Cousins in the fourth quarter, but the veteran guard said he first got hurt earlier in the contest.
"I hope I'm better tomorrow. Today was tough," Hinrich said before the game, according to bulls.com. "It actually happened earlier in the game. Rudy Gay gave me a good shot and I got hit two other times. It was hurting the whole game and the last two shots put it over the top.
"I've never had broken ribs. But it hurts to take deep breaths. Any type of just movement in itself. It's hard to even posture up straight. I hope I get better soon."
The Bulls will get a couple days off before another back-to-back, in Utah and Denver, on Monday and Tuesday.
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