Recapping the Chicago Bulls: Zach LaVine’s 36-point night fuels a 129-121 win against the Portland Trail Blazers

The Chicago Bulls won their second straight and third in four games, defeating the Portland Trail Blazers 129-121 on Saturday night at the United Center.

The Bulls overcame a 17-point deficit — and a 40-point performance from Blazers star Damian Lillard — to move into ninth place in the Eastern Conference, their highest standing in months.

• Zach LaVine scored 21 points in the first half while Lillard had 28, but also picked up four fouls. Coach Billy Donovan elected to keep LaVine in his regular rotations despite the fouls, and the guard stuck to his discipline in the second half, finishing without picking up another foul and scoring a team-high 36 points. LaVine’s 3-point shooting suffered in January when he played through a finger injury in his right hand, but he went 5-for-10 from behind the arc Saturday.

• The third quarter has been shaky for the Bulls recently, but they outscored the Trail Blazers 33-17. Guard Ayo Dosunmu drained a trio of 3-pointers, and the Bulls went 5-for-9 from behind the arc in the frame. The Bulls went on a 24-4 run to retake the lead with two minutes remaining in the quarter, ending with a 92-87 margin. They held Lillard to only three points in the third after he scored 28 in the first half.
• After being a healthy scratch for five of the previous 10 games, Andre Drummond entered in the first quarter for the second time in a row. He provided an efficiently bruising presence around the rim, logging seven points and five rebounds in 13 minutes.

• Lillard scorched the Bulls in the first half, scoring 28 points on 8-for-11 shooting. The Bulls were able to limit him to only three points in the third, but he ripped off another 12 in the fourth for a 40-point performance.

• The Bulls defense visibly struggled without Alex Caruso, who was sidelined with a left foot injury. This showed in the second quarter when the Trail Blazers outscored the Bulls 43-25, leading by as many as 17 points. Donovan swapped in Dalen Terry as a defensive option, but the rookie was yanked after short stints and finished with four minutes.
• The Bulls took only two free-throw attempts in the first half compared with the Blazers’ 14. But they leveled that number in the second half — taking 23 while the Blazers took only eight — to ultimately outscore them from the foul line.

The Bulls continued their trend of taking significantly fewer 3-pointers than their opponent but made up for that margin in efficiency. The Bulls finished 12-for-26 (46.2%) from behind the arc while the Blazers went 14-for-43 (32.6%). The difference allowed the Bulls to maintain pace with the Blazers in their second-half surge.

Although they are still two games back from breaking even at .500, the Bulls have shown an ability to level out with more consistency in recent weeks.

”We’ve talked about it enough,” LaVine said. “We know how to play that way. We’ve done it. We’ve showed it before. So now we’ve just got to do it consistently, come in next game with the same mentality and keep it up. It’s not going to be perfect. You’re going to lose a game in the NBA season. We don’t need to overreact to that, but we’ve got to stay with what we’re doing and that same mindset.”

Alex Caruso missed the game with soreness in his left foot after an awkward landing in Thursday’s win over the Charlotte Hornets.

The Bulls inched closer to .500 with the win, improving to 24-27.

The Bulls play host the San Antonio Spurs on Monday before heading on a three-game trip to face the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday, the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday.