Eleven and Counting: Turnovers and Second Chances Doom Bulls 121-112 to Portland as the Skid Reaches Eleven

Jerami Grant scored 27 points on 6-of-10 shooting and went 12-of-14 from the free throw line, and the Portland Trail Blazers held off the Chicago Bulls 121-112 on Thursday night at the United Center, handing Chicago its eleventh consecutive loss — matching the third-longest losing streak in franchise history. Robert Williams III contributed 14 points and 14 rebounds off the bench, Toumani Camara added 16 points, and Vit Krejci chipped in 14 more as Portland — playing without All-Star Deni Avdija for the second straight game due to lower back injury management — used 15 offensive rebounds and 22 points off turnovers to overcome being outshot from the field and outscored in the paint. The Blazers led for 68% of the contest and built a largest lead of 15 points.

Chicago fell to 24-36, dropping all eleven of its February games since last winning on January 31 in Miami. Matas Buzelis led the Bulls with 20 points, but did so on 6-of-16 shooting and finished a team-worst minus-15 in 36 minutes. Tre Jones was Chicago's most efficient contributor off the bench — 19 points on 9-of-15 from the field — and Nick Richards posted a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double while logging 27 minutes. Josh Giddey registered his second strong playmaking performance in two nights with 15 points and nine assists, but also committed four turnovers. The Bulls had 22 turnovers as a team compared to Portland's 12, giving the Trail Blazers 22 points off live-ball and dead-ball giveaways against Chicago's 18 generated off Portland's. Jalen Smith (right calf), Patrick Williams, Anfernee Simons, and Jaden Ivey all did not play.

Within Three, Then Gone

The game featured 17 lead changes and 13 ties, and for most of the night it carried the feel of a competitive contest even as Portland consistently maintained possession of the lead. The Bulls trailed by two at halftime, 69-63, and the third quarter was close enough — Chicago cut it to 71-70 midway through before Portland closed on a 22-16 run to take a 93-86 lead into the fourth. With Giddey and Tre Jones providing connective tissue in the offense and Richards and Leonard Miller active around the basket, there was something resembling a functional unit. Then the fourth quarter opened Portland's margin to 15 points, and the only question was whether the Bulls could make a run respectable.

They almost made it more than that. Portland pushed its lead to 105-90 on two Blake Wesley free throws with 9:02 remaining, but Chicago answered with seven straight — Miller's alley-oop, Yabusele's floater, and then Miller's three-pointer off a Tre Jones assist — to cut it to 105-97. Camara split free throws to push it back to 107-97 at 5:16, but Chicago kept pressing: Giddey hit a running three to make it 107-100, Yabusele and Buzelis converted free throws to trim the deficit further, and then Miller's cutting dunk off another Jones assist made it 108-105 with 3:37 remaining. The United Center found a pulse. Grant immediately killed it. His 26-foot three — with Jrue Holiday assisting — pushed it to 111-105 at 1:57, and Portland closed the game on a 13-7 run from that point, with Holiday adding a stepback jumper and two free throws and Camara sealing it at the line. Eleven in a row.

Shot Better. Lost Anyway.

The team stats from Thursday carry a number that, in a vacuum, would suggest Chicago was the better team: 50% from the field to Portland's 44%, 60 points in the paint to 54, 29 assists to 27, 20 fast break points to 18. The Bulls were more efficient from the floor on nearly every surface metric. It didn't matter, because of two numbers that exposed the structural flaws that have followed this roster all month: 22 turnovers and six offensive rebounds. Portland had 15 offensive rebounds — Williams III alone grabbed five in 23 minutes — and converted those extra possessions into 21 second-chance points against Chicago's 13. Combined with the 22-point swing generated off turnovers, that is a 21-point combined disadvantage for the Bulls before accounting for a single made basket. You cannot absorb that kind of deficit, no matter how clean the rest of your offense looks.

The most telling individual number of the night might belong to Rob Dillingham, who was minus-23 in 23 minutes. That number says less about Dillingham specifically — he had five assists and three steals, and his instincts as a distributor remain the most promising thing about his game — than it does about what happens to this second unit when possessions evaporate. Giddey's nine assists against four turnovers encapsulate the same tension at a larger scale: the playmaking is real, the damage from giveaways is real, and right now the second category is winning. Buzelis, who continues to be this team's most consistent initiator, went 6-for-16 and finished minus-15 — a night where the shot-creation was present but the efficiency wasn't, which on a team this thin on reliable scoring leaves no margin for anyone else to absorb. Okoro played 37 minutes and scored 12 points, but went scoreless over the final 26:09 of the game. Yabusele committed four turnovers in 21 minutes. The list of areas where this roster has room to grow is longer on nights like Thursday than on any given box score.

The bright spots deserve acknowledgment. Tre Jones was Chicago's most polished player on the floor — 19 points, 9-of-15 from the field, four assists, and a steady hand in the pick-and-roll that kept possessions alive in the second half. Richards was exactly what the Bulls need him to be in the post: 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting, all 10 of his rebounds on the defensive glass, and 27 efficient minutes that consistently gave Chicago's offense clean looks near the basket. Miller came off the bench and made things happen — 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, two blocks, and the cutting dunk with 3:37 left that briefly made the fourth quarter feel like something. These are the building blocks. The problem is that they are being undermined every night by turnover chains and second chances that this rotation, as currently constructed, doesn't have an answer for.

Looking Ahead

The Bulls host the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday afternoon at the United Center at 2:30 p.m. CT. Milwaukee has won two straight and sits at 26-31, a team that — like Chicago a month ago — is trying to piece together enough consistency to stay relevant in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls have beaten the Bucks twice this season, including a January win at the United Center, and Sunday represents as clear a reset opportunity as any remaining on the schedule. The status of Jalen Smith (right calf) will again be the thing to watch before tip-off; his absence has thinned Chicago's frontcourt options on consecutive nights, and against a Bucks team that can punish you in the post, getting him back matters. Simons and Ivey remain unavailable.

Eleven games. The number sits there, blunt and uncomfortable. This streak now matches the third-longest in franchise history, and it has materialized entirely in February — a month that was supposed to provide clarity on the post-deadline roster has made only one thing clear: the Bulls can't win a basketball game right now. Will they finally prove us wrong on Sunday?