Trail Blazers at Bulls
THE STORY: With their recent play and their trade deadline moves,
it looks like the Portland Trail Blazers have given up trying to
contend this season. The Trail Blazers on Thursday fired coach Nate
McMillan and traded away two-thirds of the starting frontcourt in Gerald
Wallace and Marcus Camby in deals that brought back expiring contracts
and spare parts. The Chicago Bulls, who host Portland on Friday, have
legitimate title hopes and are trying to win right now.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CS Northwest (Trail Blazers), CS Chicago (Bulls)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (20-23):
Portland has alternated periods of strong play with embarrassing losses
in the last few weeks. The straw that broke the camel’s back appears to
have been a 42-point loss to the sub-.500 New York Knicks on Wednesday.
The Blazers have dropped seven of their last nine games to fall out of
the playoff picture in the West. McMillan will be replaced on an interim
basis by assistant coach Kaleb Canales. Portland began the season 7-2
but quickly fell off the pace in the West. Things have gotten worse over
the last week, with non-competitive losses at Boston and New York.
ABOUT THE BULLS (36-9):
Chicago was rumored to be in the market for Los Angeles Lakers big man
Pau Gasol but elected not to make any moves at the deadline. The Bulls
don’t seem to need much as they own a 3½-game lead over the Miami Heat
in the East and have won three straight, including a 106-102 triumph
over the Heat on Wednesday in which Derrick Rose sat out to rest a groin
injury. Rose is day-to-day. John Lucas III once again proved to be a
capable replacement, scoring 24 points in Rose’s place on Wednesday.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Portland also waived oft-injured former No. 1 pick Greg Oden on Thursday to make room for the influx of new players.
2.
Bulls forward Luol Deng returned to the lineup Wednesday after missing
two games with a wrist injury. He struggled to 11 points on 4-of-13
shooting.
3. The home team has taken each of the last four games in the series.