What we learned from the Chicago Bulls' close win over the Portland Trail Blazers

The Bulls had to do it again the hard way.

© Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

A week would not be complete without the Chicago Bulls going through a clutch ballgame. On Monday, Chicago got exactly that: they lost a 16-point lead and had to scramble in crunchtime to take down the Portland Trail Blazers, 110-107. Here are two takeaways from the narrow victory.

Onuralp Bitim continues to contribute

With the Bulls’ roster decimated by injuries—the latest involving rookie Julian Phillips—Turkish rookie wingman Onuralp Bitim has remained in the rotation and made the most out of it. 

On Monday, Bitim scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds in 26 minutes. He even gave Chicago a huge spark at the end of the third as he swished a three-pointer right before the buzzer to give the Bulls an 89-75 lead going to the fourth quarter.

OB beat the buzzer!@NBCSChicago | @OnuralpBitim pic.twitter.com/79AZ75nCDX

— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) March 19, 2024

Made a living off the Blazers’ miscues

Chicago was up against a Portland squad near the bottom of the league in turnovers per game. With this in mind, the Bulls played the passing lanes well and collected nine steals. They also scored 19 points off the Blazers’ 13 turnovers.

This included a huge fastbreak slam dunk by Nikola Vucevic that gave the Bulls their largest lead of the game at 16, 82-66.

VOOOOOOOOOOOCH.@NBCSChicago | @NikolaVucevic pic.twitter.com/4N8bC9ZyZu

— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) March 19, 2024

“It just was a tough passing night for us,” Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said.

“End of the game I don’t think we executed very well down the stretch when it really counted.”

Chicago Bulls hang on to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers, 110-107