The Portland Trail Blazers essentially waved the white flag on the 2022-23 season Friday night by sitting Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic with Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant already out and while facing a very winnable game at home against the Chicago Bulls.
The Blazers started Ryan Arcidiacano, Shaedon Sharpe, Matisse Thybulle, Trendon Watford and Drew Eubanks, a lineup not built to win very many games, with the first piece of proof being a 124-96 loss at the Moda Center.
Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said before the game that Lillard would be would be day-to-day with calf tightness that has bothered him from time to time. But sitting him Friday, after the team pulled off a win Wednesday at Utah, seemed to signal that the Blazers had given up on pursuing a play-in berth.
That means the goal now is not necessarily to be competitive but to finish the season with the best shot possible at landing the No. 1 pick during the NBA draft lottery in May.
This is familiar territory for the Blazers, who began chasing ping pong balls much earlier last season. That quest earned the No. 7 pick, used to select Sharpe.
He demonstrated once again on Friday why the entire process that brought him to Portland was worth the pain and effort.
Sharpe matched his career high, set Wednesday at Utah, with 24 points against the Bulls on 9-of-20 shooting.
Once again, Sharpe displayed the skills and athleticism that could make him a future NBA All-Star. But on this night, his entertaining play did nothing for the team’s bottom line in this game.
Portland Trail Blazers forward Nassir Little, left, shoots over Chicago Bulls guard Coby White during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Friday, March 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer) APAP
The score stood at 26-26 at the end of the first quarter before the Bulls dominated the second quarter to take a 61-45 halftime lead. That trend continued in the third quarter, where the Bulls led by as much as 26 and ended the quarter up 94-72.
Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 33 points on 12-of-20 shooting and he hit 6 of 9 three-pointers. He did not play the fourth quarter. Nikola Vucivic scored 23 points with 15 rebounds for Chicago, which shot 57.1% from the field.
Billups said he put Sharpe on LaVine to help him learn what it’s like to guard elite scorers.
“I’ll continue to do that,” Billups said. “It’s the only way he can really learn.”
The Blazers, who got 15 points and six rebounds from Watford, shot 43% from the field and 19.4% (6 of 31) on threes.
“We just couldn’t make a shot,” Billups said. “There was no continuity with those units out there. So, it was tough sledding the whole time.”
WHAT IT MEANS
The Blazers (32-41) went up against a Bulls team that entered the night 10th in the Eastern Conference. Chicago (35-37) looked vastly superior and the win strengthened its position for a play-in berth. The Blazers, who have the sixth-worst record in the NBA, fell to four games back of 10th place with nine games remaining. More importantly now for their goals, they inched closer to Orlando (31-43), owners of the fifth-worst record in the NBA.
NEXT UP
The Blazers host the Oklahoma City Thunder at 4 p.m. Sunday.
— Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook). Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts
