PORTLAND, Ore. _ The Chicago Bulls didn't have Kris Dunn, Lauri Markkanen or Nikola Mirotic.
The Portland Trail Blazers had C.J. McCollum.
And for one quarter, that was enough.
Heck, McCollum needed only three to score his career-high 50 points.
McCollum set a Trail Blazers franchise record and Bulls' opponent franchise mark with a 28-point first quarter, outscoring the Bulls by nine by himself in the opening period. The Bulls' 24-point deficit after one quarter tied another franchise low point, and they ultimately lost their fifth straight, 124-108 at Moda Center.
McCollum's career-best night marked the first time a Bulls' opponent scored 50 or more points since the Milwaukee Bucks' Michael Redd did so in March 2007.
Meanwhile, the Bulls are just three games clear of the league's worst record.
Between Derrick Rose's torn meniscus here in 2013 and several blowout losses over the years, this place has been a house of horrors for the Bulls. A 23-2 deficit that forced coach Fred Hoiberg to burn two early timeouts and McCollum's transcendent performance added another chapter.
In the first quarter alone, McCollum sank 11-of-14 shots, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. He finished 18-for-25 including 6-for-9 from 3-point range and sank all eight of his free throws in 29 minutes.
The Bulls' Zach LaVine snapped out of his slump that featured 5-for-28 shooting the last two games with a season-high 23 points on 8-for-13 shooting in 22 minutes. With the blowout, he didn't take his fourth-quarter rotational turn.
With Markkanen in Chicago for personal reasons and Mirotic at the team hotel as the Bulls negotiate trades for him, Hoiberg started Paul Zipser to reward him for strong recent practices. The experiment lasted 4 minutes, 35 seconds.
Hoiberg didn't play Zipser the remainder of the first half and then started Bobby Portis for the third quarter. Zipser didn't return until the 3:25 mark of the third.
The Bulls closed the game with a lineup of Ryan Arcidiacono, Antonio Blakeney, Zipser, Quincy Pondexter and Cristiano Felicio. The ping-pong ball chase is on again.
