Vooch delivers another buzzer beater in win over Trail Blazers |
Dustin Riese
· · 2 hours ago
PORTLAND - The Chicago Bulls (8-6) certainly don't like to make things easy for themselves, do they? Take Wednesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers (6-9) at the Moda Center, for example. Looking to win back-to-back games to split their four-game trip, it was the Bulls taking it to the short-handed Trail Blazers through three quarters as they opened up a massive 21-point lead early in the fourth.
Despite being down seven players, most of them key contributors to the Trail Blazers and their success, it was Portland who came on strong down the stretch, as a late-game surge saw the Bulls blow a 21-point lead and fall behind by four points. Following a Coby White triple to pull Chicago within one, Portland had a chance to push the Bulls to the brink from the free-throw line, only to have Jerami Grant split a pair to give the Bulls one last bit of hope. Needing a two to force overtime and a three-pointer to secure the win, Billy Donovan drew up the perfect play, as Nikola Vucevic came up clutch once again with another buzzer-beating triple to lift Chicago to a 122-121 win. This was the second consecutive game-winner for Vucevic and the third for the season, as two of them came as buzzer-beating triples. After scoring the first bucket of the game, it was the Bulls who found themselves down early as Portland responded with a quick 10-0 run to open up an early 10-2 lead. Apart from that, the Trail Blazers narrowly outscored the Bulls in the first quarter. As has been the case all season, it was the Bulls' bench setting the tone in the second quarter as they came away with 60 points, the fifth time this season they hit that mark for the second unit. Coby White continues to be a big reason for the Bulls' second-unit success as he led the bench with 25 points in what was just his second game of the season. Ayo Dosunmu chipped in with 14 more points, accounting for a large chunk of the Bulls' bench scoring. Along with the Bulls bench putting up 60, Chicago also received 62 points from its starting five, with Vucevic leading the way with 27. He was the only starter to surpass 15 points, but Chicago leaned on Josh Giddey’s playmaking, who managed nine points and an impressive 13 assists in the game. The Blazers found offense through Deni Avdija and Donovan Clingan, maintaining a slight edge by halftime as they played a significant role in why things were so close at the half. Avdija came on strong during the second half to finish with 32 points, 11 boards, and 11 assists to post a triple-double, while Clingan added 17 points and a dominating 21 rebounds. Rebounding was an issue for Chicago, as the Blazers outrebounded the Bulls 64-38, leading to plenty of second-chance points. Hoping their depth would finally take over in the third, the Bulls roared out of halftime, outscoring Portland 36-21 in the third frame on the strength of their bench unit. The Blazers struggled with turnovers and poor shooting, going just 5-for-22 from the field in this stretch, while the Bulls lit it up from distance, connecting on five of their first six triples to begin the quarter and going 7-13 overall. Things only got worse from there for Portland as Matas Buzelis (11 points) and Josh Giddey (nine points) started to get some better looks to help pick up the slack from the rest of the starting five. With the Bulls leading by 21 and on the verge of blowing the doors off the Blazers, Portland mounted a furious comeback in the final quarter, led by clutch shot-making from Avdija and inside play by Clingan to pull within single digits. Add in a strong showing from Grant, who led all scorers with 33 points, and it was the Blazers who were within three and thinking upset. With less than a minute to go, Avdija’s three-pointer tied the game at 116, before Clingan’s layup gave the Blazers a 121-119 lead with 47 seconds left. The Bulls set up their final possession with time winding down, trailing by two. After a scramble and a well-spaced play, Nikola Vucevic received the ball beyond the arc and drilled a contested three-pointer at the buzzer, sealing a 122-121 win for Chicago. With the win, Chicago closes out their road trip with a 2-2 mark and will now head back to the United Center on Friday for the first of back-to-back home games, starting with Miami on Friday.
