Hilariously Cringe Blazers vs Bulls Sequence Goes Viral

Portland and Chicago stumbled mightily during their matchup on Friday night.

Apr 4, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA: Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey (3) and Portland Trail Blazers guard Dalano Banton (5) chase a loose ball during the second half at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images / Matt Marton-Imagn Images

The Portland Trail Blazers and Chicago Bulls stumbled mightily during the first quarter of their matchup, an eventual 118-113 Chicago Bulls loss, on Friday night.

Across five consecutive fruitless possessions (kicked off by a Shaedon Sharpe airball heave), both clubs enjoyed one of the most futile sequences in recent NBA memory.

The moment was shredded as "the most anticlimactic sequence of basketball you've ever seen" by one fan.

Bulls and Blazers with the most anticlimactic sequence of basketball you’ve ever seen pic.twitter.com/LqyuAEvROi

— Basketballismyreligion (@basketballimr) April 5, 2025

It was a fairly pathetic exchange of lackluster efforts, an example of sloppy executions by two disengaged clubs seemingly counting down the days till the end of the 2024-25 regular season.

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Another fan trolled the clubs for "playing YMCA basketball," which honestly is exactly what this felt like.

Dawg the Blazers and Bulls out here playing YMCA basketball 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/VXKOEe0Wov

— Hater Report (@HaterReport_) April 5, 2025

Another hoops head online was absolutely befuddled by the sequence.

omg??? pic.twitter.com/gikQGg53up

— raMEANa (@Ramina1690) April 5, 2025

The overall loss puts Portland that much closer to official play-in tournament elimination — but, to hear Kevin O'Connor of Yahoo Sports tell it, the Trail Blazers' defeat may have been an inside job.

While in the midst of a 37-point, 11-rebound, five-assist night, with his team just five points behind Chicago, small forward Deni Avdija was subbed out of the game. Three minutes remained in regulation, and the Trail Blazers had possession of the rock. Deep-bench wing Rayan Rupert was brought in for Avdija.

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Portland shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe was swapped out for Jabari Walker. Sharpe had been enjoying another solid night, and finished with 17 points on 7-of-23 shooting from the floor (1-of-8 from deep) and 2-of-2 shooting from the foul line, five assists, two rebounds and one steal.

Blazers trail by 5 points. 3 minutes left. With the ball.

And then Deni Avdija gets subbed out in the middle of a dominant 37/11/5 performance for the remainder of the game.

Tanking at its finest! pic.twitter.com/k2YkEEJv2S

— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) April 5, 2025

Point guard Dalano Banton nailed a 27-foot 3-pointer off a Walker assist to instantly close the gap to two points, 108-106, with 2:45 remaining. From there, the Bulls outscored the Trail Blazers, 10-7, to seal the victory.

Chicago improved to a 35-42 record with the win, and is now a stone's throw from overcoming the 36-40 Atlanta Hawks for the Eastern Conference's No. 8 seed. The Bulls are just 1.5 games behind the Hawks.

The Trail Blazers, meanwhile, fell to a 34-44 record, and now are 2.5 games behind the 37-40 Sacramento Kings, who won their clash against the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night. Portland has just four games left to play, and will be hard-pressed to catch up to Sacramento without winning out. Then again, it appears Chauncey Billups has gotten the memo and may be throwing some of these close games.

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For more news and notes on the Portland Trail Blazers, visit Portland Trail Blazers on SI.