The Portland Trail Blazers are taking on the Chicago Bulls on the second night of a back-to-back to close out a five game stretch at home. Portland is coming into this game winless during the four prior home games, with an average margin of loss of 20.0 points during that stretch. Chicago is coming in on a four-game losing streak, but still sits in the final Play-In spot in the Eastern Conference.
Portland Trail Blazers (13-28) vs. Chicago Bulls (18-24) – Sun. Jan. 19 – 6pm Pacific
How to watch via antenna or cable: See your options on the Rip City Television Network
How to watch via streaming: BlazerVision in Oregon and Washington; NBA TV elsewhere (also available on streaming via NBA TV on League Pass)
Trail Blazers injuries: Not released yet.
Bulls injuries: Zach LaVine (probable); Lonzo Ball, Talen Horton-Tucker, Jevon Carter, Emanuel Miller (questionable); Torrey Craig, Adama Sanogo (out).
The Bulls and Blazers are both coming into this contest on losing streaks and looking to turn that around. Portland has lost five in a row, and Chicago has lost four straight. Despite this, the two teams find themselves in very different spots in the standings. The Blazers are eight games out of the final Play-In spot in the Western Conference, but the Bulls have a two-game lead on the 11th-seeded Philadelphia 76ers for the final spot in the Eastern Conference.
Chicago has been playing at near full strength during this recent stretch for the first time in years. Point guard Lonzo Ball has returned from injury to play his first games in over two years after missing the entirety of the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. While he is listed as questionable for the matchup with Portland, Ball has been very good for the Bulls in his minutes. He is averaging 6.5 points, 3.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game while also snagging 1.5 steals per game in just 20.2 minutes nightly. His play has been a positive story in an otherwise forgettable year from Chicago.
Reader Questions
From RedUniInLA:
LaVine is in a similar situation to Anfernee Simons. He is a score-first guard who doesn’t play much defense on a team that gets more value from bottoming out than struggling for a playoff spot. His contract and play-style also make it harder to move him. His name will come up in trade discussions until the day he is moved or his contract expires.
As for why the Bulls would trade their leading scorer, the answer is similar to the Blazers from a few years ago. Chicago made a couple of win-now moves a few years back, putting LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic together, that didn’t work out. Now they are trying to offload those players and embrace a rebuild, but those guys have lost some of their value. The situation reminds me of Portland treading water with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum for a few years to chase one last chance, only to trade McCollum when his value was significantly lower.
From The Ghost of Petteri Koponen:
Are the Bulls still trying to win or are they tanking? Do they even know and is there any difference?
I’m pretty sure Bulls fans have been asking this question for over half a decade now. I’m not sure they know what their plan is.
From Timmay! (Who is not just a reader, but I’ll allow it):
I think I used a similar picture for a Bulls vs. Blazers game ten years ago. Will one playoff series (and video game) from 1992 forever be the thing that entwines these two teams?
Until Shaedon Sharpe and Coby White have an epic finals battle, this will be what connects these two teams forever.
From Kodiak62:
What does Drexler’s career with the Blazers look like if Jordan never existed?
The Blazers almost certainly win the NBA Finals in 1992. Other than that, likely not much else changes. I don’t think Jordan’s absence gives Portland a better chance in 1990, nor any year where they lost before the Finals.
About the Opponent:
Multiple contributors from On Tap Sports Net talked about the woes of the Chicago Bulls at home this season, despite it being a focus of the team.
Before the commencement of the 2024-2025 NBA season, Artūras Karnišovas, the vice president of basketball operations for the Chicago Bulls, outlined one of his objectives as a team to secure a winning record at their home arena, the United Center.
However, on Friday, the Bulls suffered their fourth consecutive home loss, finishing a five-game homestand with just one victory. They have lost 15 of their 23 home games this season.
