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Among the highlights at the Chicago Bulls-Portland Trail Blazers game Thursday (March 21) at the United Center was an emphatic, fourth-quarter dunk by diminutive Nate Robinson of the Bulls. And then there was teammate Jimmy Butler’s first-quarter dunk on an alley-opp pass from Robinson that delighted the crowd.
Rihanna is coming to the United Center on March 22.
OK, that was about it. The Bulls lost 99-89, as Kirk Hinrich returned to the starting lineup and Taj Gibson returned to play. Gibson had 14 points and nine rebounds off the bench, while Hinrich — who had missed seven games — had two points on 1-of-7 shooting from the field, including 0-for-4 on three-pointers.
“There was some rust, as expected,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I thought Taj got going after starting out a little slow. He found his rhythm, so that was good.”
If there was anything to be excited by, it might have been a poster for singer Rihanna’s tour that will make a stop at the United Center. The Blazers passed the poster on a wall on their way to their locker room after the game.
“I felt a little rusty,” said Gibson, who had been sidelined 10 games with a knee injury. “As the game went on and the pace picked up, I got a little more comfortable. It’s all about grinding right now, not about how hurt I am.”
The Bulls had no answer for Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge, who had 28 points on 14-of-23 shooting from the field.
“Lately, I have been in a good rhythm,” Aldridge said. “It was not a mismatch; I just made a number of tough shots against them.”
The Bulls had trouble making shots — tough and otherwise — in the second and third quarters when they went 7-of-17 and 7-of-25 as they scored 16 points in each period. Only a 15-of-23 (65.2 percent) fourth quarter in which the Bulls scored 36 points made the final score appear reasonably close.
“I thought this was one of our better defensive or best defensive games of the season,” Blazer coach Terry Stotts said.
It’s unclear how the Bulls’ performances like this — and there have been more than a few — will influence the return of Derrick Rose, although it’s tough to think coming back this season would be worthwhile.
Something says some of us could have spent our time watching the first round of the NCAA tournament if we had wanted to see less than stellar basketball.
But then we would have missed out on the Rihanna poster.
Playboy Playmate Jaslyn Ome was on the March 21 “Sports & Torts.”
Another edition of “Sports & Torts” with co-hosts David Spada and Elliott Harris is in the archives — or wherever the fine folks at Talkzone.com put the show after its live airing on Thursdays at noon Chiago time. Or Central time, for those who have trouble figuring when Chicago time might be. Anyway, the podcast is available.
The guests on the March 21 program were Playboy Playmate Jaslyn Ome (she is Miss April 2013) and former NBA star Elgin Baylor. For those who missed the show or for those who did not but might like an encore performance, you can access it (complete with video that features photos of Jaslyn) by clicking here.
And once again, we have reached the spot for some non-gratuitous video (mainly because the editorial and video staffs at elliottharris.com have a rather broad definition of “gratuitous”):
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