Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Luol Deng poured in a career-high 40 points, as the Chicago Bulls earned a 110-98 win over the Portland Trail Blazers at the United Center.
Deng Scores Career-High 40 Points In Bulls’ 110-98 Win Over Blazers
Derrick Rose finished with 16 points and 13 assists for the Bulls, who have won two straight after opening the season with a loss at Oklahoma City. Joakim Noah posted his third straight double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in the victory.
LaMarcus Aldridge had a team-high 33 points to go with nine rebounds for Portland, which started the 2010-11 campaign with wins at Phoenix, Los Angeles Clippers and New York. The Trail Blazers will wrap up their five-game road trip on Tuesday at Milwaukee before opening the home portion of their schedule on Thursday against the Thunder. Brandon Roy chipped in with 17 points and Marcus Camby had a game-high 11 boards.
Deng paced the Bulls with 16 first quarter points to give his squad a 32-21 lead after the opening 12 minutes.
Chicago then started the second period with an 8-2 run and was up 40-23 after Ronnie Brewer’s reverse layup just over three minutes in. The hosts maintained a double-digit advantage for the majority of the half.
Ahead 52-41 with 2:07 before the break, Aldridge made a turnaround shot, then a dunk to get the Trail Blazers within seven, but Deng closed out the first half with a jumper to give Chicago a 56-47 edge heading into the locker room.
Keith Bogans drilled a three-pointer to start the third quarter and restore the Bulls’ double-digit lead. Deng then hit from beyond the arc with nearly five minutes left to stretch the advantage to 17 at 77-60 and Chicago was up 88-73 after three.
The Bulls continued to hold a healthy margin in the fourth until Armon Johnson’s layup briefly cut Portland’s deficit to single-digits, 101-92, with 3:59 to play.
However, Deng made 1-of-2 from the free-throw line and Kyle Korver hit a corner three for a 105-92 game with 3:01 remaining and Chicago cruised the rest of the way.
Former Blazers power forward Maurice Lucas passed away this weekend after a battle with bladder cancer. The 58-year-old Lucas helped the Blazers to an NBA title in 1977. He averaged 15.6 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 0.72 blocked shots over five seasons (1976-80, 87-88) with Portland...Portland and Chicago split the home-and-home series a year ago, with both teams holding serve as the host. The two teams had split the previous 12 meetings coming into Monday's game...The Blazers have now dropped five of seven games at the United Center.
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