The Chicago Bulls (4-4) produced one of their best comebacks in modern times last night when
overcoming a 21-point second quarter deficit to the Portland Trail Blazers (3-4) to claim an unlikely 111-108 victory.
In what was a game where Portland dominated up until the early part of the second quarter, before Chicago took over the game, the action in the last quarter was frantic as the Bulls snatched the lead with a few minutes remaining.
Even so, they still had to rely on a missed Trail Blazers three-pointer with just a second on the clock to avoid the game going into overtime.
All White On The Night
The catalyst for the win was the 20-year-old Coby White (pictured), who put up 21 points and 10 rebounds nd it was White who landed the layup midway through the fourth quarter that saw the Bulls go ahead 98-97 in a crucial phase of the match, as well as two crucial free throw conversions at the end of the game.
Early in the second quarter, after the Trail Blazers had led 39-21 after the first, Portland extended their lead to 21 points and it seemed like the Bulls were on for another morale-sapping defeat.
However, they dug in and rallied, clawing back some of the deficit in a low-scoring second quarter before dominating the game in the second half to claim a 111 to 108 win.
A Night of Late Fourth Quarter Drama
There was plenty of drama at the end of the game with Chicago leading 106-105 with 10.7 seconds left, Zach LaVine hit a fantastic deep three to make it 109-105, but Damian Lillard responded well for the Blazers draining a big three pointer himself to make it 109-108.
From the restart CJ McCollum fouled Coby White with 4.7 seconds remaining with White landing both free throws to extend the lead to 111-108. With 4.7 seconds left, Carmelo Anthony tried a three-pointer to tie but missed, allowing Chicago to see out the remaining second of action to clinch the win.
It was a night for late fourth quarter drama as the Los Angeles Lakers improved to 6-2 with a 94-92 win over the Memphis Grizzlies (2-5) at the FedEx Forum and also the San Antonio Spurs (3-4) hung on despite a strong second half comeback from the LA Clippers (5-3) to register a 116-113 victory at the Staples Center.
The Brooklyn Nets had an easier night, moving to 4-4 on the season after beating the Utah Jazz (4-3) 130-96. In the other game of the night, the Denver Nuggets improved to 3-4 after defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves (2-5) 123-116 with Nuggets power forward Nikola Jokic landing 35 points and 15 rebounds as the catalyst for that victory.
Key Forthcoming Fixtures
The Bulls don’t have too long to dwell on the nature of that big come-from-behind victory as they
are back in action tonight against the 3-4 Sacramento Kings, while the Trail Blazers will have to wait 24-hours to get that result out of their system as they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.
The Timberwolves are battling to break a five-game losing streak, after winning both their opening two of the new season.
Other big games tonight see the Philadelphia 76ers putting their 6-1 record on the line against the Washington Wizards, Orlando Magic battling the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat taking on the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors facing the Los Angeles Clippers.
You can get all the latest NBA betting on each of these games and many more across the NBA Season at sites like BetMGM.
*Featured Image Courtesy of Mack Male –CC.BY.SA.2.0
