Bulls suffer through another forgettable visit to Portland

There was plenty of good news for the Bulls on Friday, despite a 105-87 loss to Portland.

First of all, no player suffered a season-ending injury. And the only way the Bulls will return to Portland this season is if the teams meet in the NBA Finals.

Otherwise, it was another forgettable visit to Oregon, the Bulls' seventh straight loss in the building now known as the Moda Center.

Taj Gibson left the arena on crutches and wearing a walking boot after suffering a sprained left ankle in the third quarter. That's a tough development, but not as bad as last year's visit to Portland, when Derrick Rose was lost for the season with torn cartilage in his left knee.

"Injuries are part of the game. If a guy gets hurt, he gets hurt," coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters after the game. "But it's not the building, it's not any of that stuff."

The Bulls were already missing Rose (left hamstring strain), Pau Gasol (left calf strain) and Kirk Hinrich (chest contusion). It's unclear if any of those players will be ready to return Monday against Utah. The Bulls did not practice Saturday.

Gibson's left ankle has been a lingering problem. He turned the ankle in the home opener against Cleveland on Oct. 31. He returned to play down the stretch in that game, but he sat out the next night against Minnesota.

"The same lingering injury. I keep trying to play through it; try and be there for my teammates," Gibson said, according to bulls.com. "Pushed through a whole summer of trying to rehab the same ankle and it just keeps flaring up. I just keep having these little bum ankle turns. I'm just frustrated."

Gibson said he got a talk from Rose in the locker room about taking his time to get the ankle healthy.

"I have to stop trying to run back out there and try to play through these things," Gibson said. "The dog in me wants to be out there and play. I have to learn from this. I just have to be smart. I have to really get it strong because it hurts my athleticism. It takes a lot to have me sit out. I just don't want the same thing to keep happening."

One of the sidebars to Friday's loss was a flagrant foul by Mike Dunleavy on Portland guard Damien Lillard in the third quarter. After the game, Dunleavy acknowledged that he was reacting to Joakim Noah going to the floor with an apparent injury.

Noah turned out to be OK, and replays showed it was probably teammate Jimmy Butler who struck him in the face while fighting for a defensive rebound. When the ball kicked out to Lillard, Dunleavy knocked him over with a hard foul as the Blazers guard shot a 3-pointer.

"It was totally unintentional in terms of trying to hurt or injure," Dunleavy said, according to bulls.com. "Jo went down and it looked like he got hit pretty hard. So I was going to take an intentional foul. Lillard went up to shoot and it was one of those things where I got put in an awkward situation. He was in a shooting motion and at that point, I had to foul him hard or else."

The one legitimate bright spot for the Bulls was a potential breakout performance by rookie Nikola Mirotic. The 6-10 forward had 24 points and 11 rebounds, while hitting 7 of 13 shots from the field.

"Niko was definitely a positive for us," Noah said. "He competed hard and is somebody who is a difference maker on the offensive end. He can score the ball, he can shoot, can pass. He's getting better every day. That's good for us."

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