CHICAGO (AP) 鈥� DeMar DeRozan scored 28 points and found Nikola Vucevic for a key hook shot with 9.3 seconds left, helping the Chicago Bulls edge the Portland Trail Blazers 110-107 on Monday night.
鈥淚t鈥檚 sometimes more than just making a shot,鈥� teammate Alex Caruso said of DeRozan鈥檚 performance in a game-high 40 minutes. 鈥淚t鈥檚 boxing out against their guys that are crashing hard. It鈥檚 finding Vooch on the mismatch down low to hit the layup to keep us up three. He鈥檚 just a winner at heart.鈥�
Vucevic had 22 points and nine rebounds in Chicago鈥檚 third win in four games. Ayo Dosunmu finished with 23 points and 10 assists.
Anfernee Simons scored 12 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter for Portland, but couldn鈥檛 get off a 3-point attempt from the top of the key before time expired. Deandre Ayton had 25 points and 15 rebounds in his sixth consecutive game with at least 20 points.
The Blazers lost for the seventh time in nine games.
鈥淢aybe half a second,鈥� Simons said of how close he was to getting the final shot off. 鈥淲e had a couple good opportunities and they just didn鈥檛 fall.鈥�
The Bulls鈥� NBA-leading 24th clutch victory 鈥� a game that is within five points with under five minutes left 鈥� moved them within a game of .500 at 34-35. But they were outscored 32-21 in the final quarter.
鈥淲e got lackadaisical, we got careless with the ball and started to be not so aggressive,鈥� DeRozan said. 鈥淲e let them get downhill, fouled them, let them get layups. We let go of the rope a little bit.鈥�
Each team played without its second-leading scorer. Bulls guard Coby White missed his third straight game with a right hip strain, and Portland鈥檚 Jerami Grant sat out for the fourth straight contest with a right hamstring strain.
Dosunmu was 9 for 17 from the field while running the offense in White鈥檚 absence. He scored a career-high 34 points during Saturday night鈥檚 127-98 victory over Washington.
With 3:32 left in the fourth, Simons drilled a contested 3-pointer from the left wing to put Portland up 105-104 for their first lead since the first quarter. But Simons鈥� potential go-ahead attempt from long distance rimmed out with 34 seconds remaining.
Vucevic鈥檚 turnaround hook shot made it 108-105 with 9.3 seconds left, and Caruso fouled Simons intentionally to put him on the free-throw line rather than allow him a chance at a tying 3 on the next possession.
鈥淎 really heads-up play,鈥� Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. 鈥淲e talked about fouling up three.鈥�
Portland entered Monday averaging the third-most turnovers in the NBA, and its miscues weighed heavily once more. The Bulls scored 19 points off 13 Blazers turnovers, including a driving Vucevic dunk on a fast break opened by a Torrey Craig steal that put Chicago up 82-66 with 3:15 left in the third.
鈥淚t just was a tough passing night for us,鈥� Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said. 鈥淓nd of the game I don鈥檛 think we executed very well down the stretch when it really counted.鈥�
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: Return to Portland on Wednesday for the first of two straight home games against the Clippers.
Bulls: Visit the Rockets in Houston on Thursday.
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NBA:
James Fegan, The Associated Press
