Bulls lose to Portland Trail Blazers, have now lost 5 straight

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Scoot Henderson had 25 points and the Portland Trail Blazers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 113-102 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday night.

Zach LaVine had 27 points for the Bulls. They have lost five in a row.

Portland extended its lead to 97-82 on Shaedon Sharpe’s 3-pointer with 7:36 left. Patrick Williams’ dunk got the Bulls within single digits at 110-102 with 1:26 left. Deni Avdija responded with a layup for Portland to end the threat.

Sharpe came off the bench for the Blazers after coach Chauncey Billups told him his defense needed to improve to return to a starting role. Sharpe finished with 23 points.

The Bulls led by 15 points in the first half. Henderson made back-to-back 3-pointers that put the Blazers up 43-42.

Portland tied it at 45 on Jerami Grant’s 3, and it was tied at 53 at halftime.

Portland, playing the second of a back-to-back, pulled ahead early in the second half and led by as much as 65-57 on Avdija’s 3-pointer. Ayo Dosunmu made a 3 for the Bulls that tied it at 75, but Chicago was unable to pull ahead.

Avdija finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Takeaways

Bulls: Lonzo Ball (right thigh contusion/injury management), Jevon Carter (illness) and Chris Duarte (personal reasons) were unavailable for the Bulls.

Trail Blazers: Anfernee Simons did not play for the Blazers because of a right elbow strain. But both Avdija (right ankle) and Deandre Ayton (lower back) were available.

Key moment

Henderson pulled down a defensive rebound and sprinted down the court under pressure before passing it to Sharpe for the layup that gave the Blazers an 87-77 lead entering the final quarter.

Key state

Portland finished with a disappointing 1-4 at home.

Next

The Bulls are at the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night. The Trail Blazers are in Miami on Tuesday night.