Bulls’ Portis blames issues on his image
Bobby Portis’ run-in Friday with Warriors superstar Kevin Durant left the Bulls forward with a sprained elbow and a feeling that he is being treated differently by the officials because of his reputation.
“Obviously, everything is officiated differently towards me,” Portis said softly before Saturday night’s game against the Jazz.
“It’s because of that incident [with Nikola Mirotic] last year. Everybody thinks I’m this bad guy when really I’m a really good dude. Image is everything, and I guess that’s what my image is.”
Portis clocked Mirotic during an infamous 2017 practice altercation, leaving Mirotic with a concussion and facial fractures.
“I always play with an edge, play hard and kind of make these facial expressions to make it seem like I’m mad all the time on the court,” Portis said. “It’s just who I am: play hard, bring an edge. I really can’t control the facial features I play with. It just happens. It’s kind of a gift and a curse.”
Portis sat out Saturday’s game and said he is day to day with an elbow that feels “funny.”
Bulls coach Jim Boylen said the team is “sensitive to” the injury because Lauri Markkanen missed the first two months with a sprained elbow.
Portis and Durant got tangled up on a screen, and Portis believes that the Warriors star grabbed his right arm and purposely pulled it down.
“Yeah, that wasn’t inadvertent,” he said. “If I would have done that, I would have gotten a foul called on me. I guess it’s just who you’re playing against.”
Mavericks
J.J. Barea won’t play again this season and will undergo surgery Monday after rupturing his right Achilles tendon Friday night in a Dallas victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Barea, a 13year veteran, went down after a fourth-quarter layup. The guard, the first man of the Mavericks bench in most games, had scored 16 points and will finish the season with averages of 10.9 points per game and 5.6 assists. Coach Rick Carlisle said Sunday that the Barea injury would likely result in more minutes for rookie guard Jalen Brunson.
Grizzlies
Memphis forward Kyle Anderson is expected to miss at least two to four weeks because of a severely sprained left ankle. The Grizzlies said that Anderson had a Grade 2 sprain. Anderson hurt the ankle Saturday in a 112-108 loss at Miami. Anderson has made 38 starts this year in his first season with the Grizzlies. He is averaging 7.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists. Anderson received a four-year, $37.2 million free agent deal with the Grizzlies last summer.