The Ghost Of Bobby Portis Hands Bulls Frightening Loss
On February 6th, 2019, the Chicago Bulls traded forward Bobby Portis to the Washington Wizards for Otto Porter Jr. Portis signed a two year deal with the New York Knicks this offseason, but he never forgot about that trade.
With 3:33 left in the fourth quarter, Lauri Markkanen drilled a three from the corner to give the Bulls a 98 – 90 lead. Fast forward two minutes and suddenly the bulls were down 103 – 98 with 1:09 left in the game after Portis drilled to clutch three-pointers. Madison Square Garden then erupted with chants of, “BOBBY PORTIS.”
It was the first time the Knicks led in the game.
Portis finished the game with 28 points and 11 rebounds on 10-14 shooting in 30 minutes.
The Bulls finished the last 3:33 of the game without scoring a point.
“For about 44 minutes we played really good basketball,” Boylen said after the game. “We lost the boards big time. On the road, you gotta defend and you gotta rebound. I thought we defended pretty well. We didn’t rebound well enough.”
Boylen was right about that. The Bulls were outrebounded 24 to 8 in the fourth quarter.
It’ll be interesting to see what Boylen does with his lineup in late-game situations following this loss. The Bulls will have to show they can rally back on Wednesday night when they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers.