The Chicago Bulls were blown out by the Portland Trail Blazers 122-98 at the Rose Garden last night.

The Blazers built up a formidable 15 point lead at halftime, but the Bulls closed the lead down to 4, making it a 77-73 game with 3:53 remaining in the game. From there on out the Bulls would be outscored 45-25 en route to an embarassing blowout loss.

The Bulls really lost this game up front. The Blazers big front court was too much for the Bulls. Greg Oden especially gave the Bulls problems. Oden finished with 24 points on 7-8 shooting, grabbing 12 rebounds, and blocking 2 shots.

The highlight of the game for the Bulls was two posterizations of Greg Oden. First by Joakim Noah, and then by Derrick Rose. However, those plays just highlight the defense that Oden was playing last night. He was out there challenging shots, and that should be applauded, as his defense was huge last night.

LaMarcus Aldridge also had a big game, putting up 24 points and 13 rebounds.

The Blazers front court was simply too big for the Bulls’. This led the Bulls to get killed at both big spots. This brings up a question of whether Joakim Noah will be big enough to play the center spot longterm. I think that Noah has done a good job at center so far this year, but I think he would be better if he was allowed to play power forward, as he would then no longer be at a size disadvantage every game.

Luol Deng led the Bulls in scoring with 25 points on 9-14 shooting. This was probably Deng’s best game of the season. What stood out to most was that Deng went 2-2 from three point land in the game. If Deng actually can hit the threes, than he needs to start taking them in volume. It will raise his scoring efficiency, and it will improve the Bulls offense, by spreading out the defense.

John Salmons also had a good game, finishing with 22 points on 8-15 shooting. Salmons was very effective shooting the midrange jumper.

Derrick Rose finished with 14 points on 7-14 shooting.

For the Blazers, Brandon Roy put in 18 points, Andre Miller 16, and Rudy Fernandez 13.

Jannero Pargo gave the Bulls a bit of an offensive spark off the bench, scoring 15 points in 13 minutes.

With the loss, the Bulls fall to 6-7 on the season.

Closing Comments

This is the Bulls’ third double digit loss in a row, but is there any reason to be concerned? All three losses were against good Western Conference opponents on the road. In addition to this, the Blazers have been a matchup nightmare for the Bulls over the past year or so, mainly because of the size and length of the Blazer front court. Last year, when the Bulls played the Blazers on the road, they suffered their worst loss in franchise history, losing by 42 points. When they met again at the United Center, the Bulls lost by 14 points. In reality, this was a game the Bulls were probably going to lose. It’s not time to worry yet. However, if the Bulls continue their losing into Milwaukee and against Detroit, then it will be time to worry.

The Chicago Bulls fell to the Portland Trail Blazers 109 to 95 for their second loss to the Blazers this season.

The Bulls problems were clear tonight, three of their perimeter players did not play appropriate defense. Derrick Rose lethargically chased Steve Blake around, leaving him open for threes. Luol Deng, like Rose, lethargically chased around Travis Outlaw, leaving him open for threes. And Andres Nocioni, while energetic on defense, ignores his defensive assignment, and goes and doubles someone elses man.

Steve Blake hit four threes in the game, and finished with 16 points and 10 assists. But Travis Outlaw was the real killer, coming off the bench for 33 points, making four three pointers.

Drew Gooden led the Bulls in scoring, putting in 22 points and grabbing 9 rebounds. Gooden was completely overmatched by Greg Oden, who he was assigned to guard. Greg Oden burned the Bulls for the second time this season, finishing with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Too bad for Oden that he can’t play the league’s worst front court every game.

Derrick Rose had a good passing night, and that’s about it. Rose finished the game with 10 assists. Defensively, Rose was lazy, leaving Blake wide open for three many times throughout the game. Offensively, Rose finished with 13 points on 5-14 shooting. Rose had some nice drives to the basket, but he really struggled with his shooting.

One thing Rose is going to learn is that he has to practice hard to become the best. For almost the entirety of the pre-game shoot around, Rose was engaged in a lackadaisical one on one game with Drwe Gooden, in which Rose bricked almost all of his shots. Rose should take a hint from Gordon, and perform a serious pre-game shooting routine.

Ben Gordon had an alright game, finishing with 17 points and 3 assists. Gordon drove to the basket pretty well. Shooting wise, Gordon had a tough night, missing most of his shots in the fourth. Shooters have off nights, and this was an off night for Gordon. While Gordon had 4 turnovers, none of them were from mental lapses. One was from an offensive foul, one was a pass that bounced off Noah’s stone hands, one was a pass that Luol Deng should have caught, but sailed out of bounds because of Luol’s 2 inch vertical on his jump, and the other was a pass that Gordon just mishandeled. Still, Gordon needs to cut down on the handling turnovers.

Defensively, Ben Gordon did a pretty good job on Brandon Roy, and brought a lot of energy tonight. The new found defensive energy might be in response to Kirk Hinrich’s return, who Gordon will have to fend off to keep his starting spot.

Kirk Hinrich looked really good on the defensive end of the ball. He was playing great positional defense with a lot of energy. Hinrich looks to have returned to his All Defensive Team level of defense. Hinrich finished with 4 points and 3 assists in his return.

Luol Deng looked bad overall tonight, looking lethargic on defense, and shooting the ball poorly. Deng needs to bring more energy in the future. Tonight’s level of effort from Deng is unacceptable.

Thabo Sefolosha, who got the start at small forward, finished with 8 points and 8 rebounds. He looked good in his limited minutes, making some nice cuts to the basket.

Tyrus Thomas had an alright game. He didn’t really contribute much according to the box score, but his defense was pretty good. He played within himself, and didn’t try to take over on offense.

LaMarcus Aldridge and Rudy Fernandez both had 8 points for the Blazers.

With the return of Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng, Larry Hughes was ushered into a new bench role. Del Negro only allotted 7 minutes for Hughes tonight, and that number likely would have been less if Gordon didn’t get in early foul trouble.

Portland general manager, Kevin Pritchard, was in attendance tonight.

With the loss, the Bulls fall to 16-22 on the season.