Blazers dominate Bulls for sixth straight win
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Portland, OR (SportsNetwork.com) - Damian Lillard had 21 points and nine assists in three quarters of work as the Portland Trail Blazers thrashed the Chicago Bulls 105-87 on Friday night.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Blazers, who won their sixth straight game.
"Obviously Chicago didn't have three of their main guys, but I liked our demeanor," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said.
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Nikola Mirotic supplied 24 points and 11 boards for Chicago, which was without point guard Derrick Rose and power forward Pau Gasol again. Rose missed his fourth consecutive game with a hamstring injury, while Gasol didn't play for a third time in a row due to a left calf strain.
The Bulls lost forward Taj Gibson in the third quarter of this one with a left ankle sprain.
"It's just the same lingering injury," Gibson said. "I keep trying to play through it, try and be there for my teammates. I pushed through a whole summer of trying to rehab the same ankle and it just keeps flaring up."
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The Blazers led by as many as 17 in the opening frame before the Bulls cut the gap to 39-35 in the second.
Portland later responded with an 18-2 run and were never threatened again.
Lillard hit consecutive triples at one point and netted eight points during the surge. Allen Crabbe capped the surge with a dunk to stake Portland to a healthy 59-39 advantage late in the first half.
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The Blazers led 61-43 at the break and by as many as 28 in the third before settling for an 89-65 cushion heading into the fourth, where they cruised to the easy win.
Earlier, Aldridge and Lillard nailed triples in the first few minutes as Portland raced out to an 18-3 margin.
The spread swelled to 26-9 late in the first.
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A 10-2 Bulls flurry pulled them within 30-21, but Chris Kaman's reverse at the horn gave the Blazers a 32-21 lead going into the second.
Game Notes
The Blazers held a 48-28 points in the paint advantage ... Portland shot 49.4 percent (39-of-79) from the field and 9-of-16 from beyond the arc ... The Bulls shot just 36.1 percent (30-of-83) from the floor.