Bulls’ Portis apologizes for punching teammate Mirotic during practice
Suspended Bulls forward Bobby Portis offered an apology to injured teammate Niko Mirotic on Saturday in his first public comments since punching Mirotic in the face in practice on Tuesday.
The fight cost the Bulls their top two power forwards. Mirotic suffered two fractured bones and a concussion and is expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks. Portis was suspended eight games.
Portis said before Chicago’s home opener against the Spurs that he has reached out to Mirotic but has not received a response.
“I’m wrong for what I did,” Portis said. “I want to publicly apologize to Niko. I feel like I let my fans, the Bulls organization and most importantly my teammates down. This is not who Bobby Portis is.
“Going forward, I want to make sure that me and Niko are cool and that we can be teammates again. I’m pretty sure we can. We just have to repair the relationship.”
On the court, LaMarcus Aldridge had 28 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Spurs to a Chicago 8777 win over the Bulls.
Aldridge scored 12 points in a 22-13 run that gave San Antonio a 63-51 third-quarter lead. He signed a threeyear contract extension a day before the season began.
The Spurs played without All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard (right quadriceps tendinopathy). ROCKETS 107, MAVERICKS 91>> James Harden scored 29 points to lead Houston, which was playing without point guard Chris Paul, who is week-to-week with a left knee injury,
Houston improved to 3-0 for the first time since the 2014-15 season when it started 6-0.
Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni told reporters that the team will hold Paul out until the knee is completely healed. The team has not offered any specifics on the injury, other than the knee is bruised. BUCKS 113, TRAIL BLAZERS 110 >> Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 17 of his career-high 44 points in the fourth quarter, and he gave Milwaukee the lead for good on a breakaway dunk with 11 seconds left. Damian Lillard scored 16 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter for Portland. MAGIC 114, CAVALIERS 93 >> Nikola Vucevic scored 23 points and Orlando snapped a 17-game losing streak against the defending Eastern Conference champions.
LeBron James scored 14 points in the first quarter and finished with 22 as the Cavaliers lost for the first time in three games. Derrick Rose missed the game for Cleveland with a sprained left ankle. CLIPPERS 130, SUNS 88 >> Blake Griffin had 29 points and eight rebounds, Patrick Beverley added 15 points and six steals in the rout. The win might have been costly as Los Angeles also saw starting point guard Milos Teodosic carried off the floor with a foot injury.
PELICANS >> A person familiar with the deal says guard Jameer Nelson has agreed to one-year, veteran minimum, free-agent contract with New Orleans.
The person says the Pelicans also have decided to waive guard Jordan Crawford to create room on the roster for Nelson, who became a free agent this past week when he was released by Denver.
It is possible that Nelson could make his Pelicans debut Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Nelson could start at point guard for New Orleans while Rajon Rondo spends a month or more recovering from recent core muscle surgery.
• The NBA has fined Pelicans center DeMarcus Cousins $25,000 for directing inappropriate language toward a fan.
Cousins was penalized for his actions that came with 50 seconds remaining in the Pelicans’ loss to Memphis on Wednesday night.