DeMar DeRozan, Bulls hold off Blazers

Field Level Media|published: Mon 18th March, 22:55 2024

Mar 18, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan (11) drives to the basket against Portland Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara (33) during the first half at United Center. credits: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

DeMar DeRozan scored 28 points on 10-for-17 shooting and the Chicago Bulls escaped with a 110-107 win over the visiting Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.

Ayo Dosunmu posted a double-double with 23 points and 10 assists for the Bulls (34-35), who earned their second win in a row and their third in the past four games. Nikola Vucevic finished with 22 points and nine rebounds.

Anfernee Simons scored 30 points and dished out nine assists to lead Portland (19-49). Deandre Ayton registered a double-double with 25 points and 15 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who lost their third consecutive game.

The Bulls nearly squandered a 15-point, fourth-quarter lead before securing the victory in the final seconds.

Dalen Terry made a 3-pointer to put Chicago on top 92-77 with 11:28 remaining in the fourth.

The Trail Blazers battled back and nearly stole the game from the Bulls. Portland went on a 28-10 run to seize a 105-102 lead with 2:35 to play.

DeRozan answered with a three-point play to even the score at 105-105 with 2:28 left.

The score remained tied until the final minute, when Alex Caruso made 1 of 2 free-throw attempts to give the Bulls a 106-105 edge with 49.1 seconds left. Vucevic added a basket to make it 108-105 with 9.3 seconds to go.

Chicago fouled Simons to prevent a 3-point attempt in the closing seconds. Simons made two free throws to bring Portland within 108-107 with 7.4 seconds to go, but then DeRozan responded with two free throws of his own to boost Chicago's lead back to three points.

Caruso blocked Simons' final 3-point attempt to end the game.

The Bulls outscored Portland 35-26 in the third quarter to pull ahead 89-75.

DeRozan set the tone with a 3-pointer to start the scoring in the second half. Torrey Craig and Caruso added one 3-pointer apiece in the next few minutes as the Bulls increased their lead to double digits at 69-58.

Onuralp Bitim drained a buzzer-beater 3-pointer to give Chicago a 14-point lead at the end of the third quarter.

Chicago led 54-49 at the half.

—Field Level Media

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