Bulls fall to Trail Blazers 116-74 in blowout
'Embarrassing loss' was over quickly; Deng scratched late
PORTLAND, Ore. -- There are bad losses, really bad losses and embarrassing losses. The Bulls' 116-74 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night at the Rose Garden falls into that last category.
There wasn't anything competitive about this one as the Bulls never got started, immediately fell behind by double digits and never made a significant rally.
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Other than that, it was another fine circus trip performance.
''It was an embarrassing loss. We never could get over that hump,'' Ben Gordon said. ''It seemed like the game was over before it even started with the way we came out.''
Even rookie sensation Derrick Rose couldn't keep the Bulls (5-7) competitive. He had his worst game of the season, finishing with six points on 1-for-8 shooting in 30 minutes. Rose also struggled defensively and was held out of the fourth quarter.
Brandon Roy led the Blazers (7-5) with 20 points, and rookie Greg Oden, the No. 1 pick last year, had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Playing on the second night of back-to-back games on the road -- especially with Luol Deng scratched before tipoff with an injured left hamstring -- about all a team can hope for is to get off to a decent start and stay within striking distance.
But it was apparent early that the Bulls wouldn't come close to accomplishing that goal. Less than five minutes into the game, they trailed 16-3.
But even if you were the most optimistic Bulls fans, you got that sense a few minutes later when the Blazers stretched their lead to 34-13 at the end of the first quarter.
The Bulls struggled in every phase of the game in that opening quarter. They couldn't make a shot (5-for-20), turned the ball over too much (six) and couldn't stop anyone or get a rebound on the defensive end.
Once again, the Bulls' big men were pushed around under the boards like tackling dummies. The Blazers had a 15-7 rebounding edge in the first quarter, including six offensive boards.
Aaron Gray replaced Joakim Noah in the starting lineup in an attempt to give the Bulls more size, but it didn't work out that well.
Noah came on late in the first quarter and actually held his ground better than he did Tuesday night in Los Angeles against the Lakers. But he wasn't getting any help from the officials.
He picked up two ticky-tack fouls within six seconds after coming in to face Oden and was assessed a technical foul when he complained after the first one. His foul trouble was one of the few interesting aspects of the first half. Noah, who blocked a couple of shots by Oden, picked up his fourth late in the second, but it came right after Drew Gooden was shaken up and wasn't available to re-enter the game. Sure enough, Noah was called for a fifth foul when Oden apparently was hit in a crowd going for a rebound.