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Westerlund: 5 Thoughts After Bulls-Knicks

By Cody Westerlund--

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Bulls used a 31-8 demolition of the Knicks in the fourth quarter to cruise to an easy 108-81 win on Friday night at the United Center and improve to 19-12. Here are the observations and notes of the night.

1. This Bulls team is hard to figure out, but one certainty did come from Friday: rookie forward Bobby Portis will continue to have a big role moving forward.

Portis scored 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds in just shy of 30 minutes, once again bringing his usual energy. In the five contests that he's played at least 20 minutes in this season, Portis is averaging 14.2 points and 8.4 rebounds.

And he's been efficient, shooting 51 percent on the season.

Afterward, coach Fred Hoiberg confirmed Portis has cemented his status in the rotation, even if/when the Bulls get fully healthy and have a playing time crunch on their hands with their big men.

"Absolutely," Hoiberg said. "We're going to continue to find minutes for Bobby, no doubt about it. He's playing too well. He's playing with so much confidence. He rebounds the ball. He's playing with a toughness and a swagger. That's what you want. And again, we've talked all along – Bobby's not going to back down from anybody."

Added wing Jimmy Butler: "He's talented. He's always working on his game. When he's out there playing, swag's really high."

2. Portis is more than just a promising young player. He's also a Hoiberg guy, representing the mold of a player who fits the coach's system. More than anything, this is reflected in Portis' habit of running the floor hard.

Sprinting down the floor isn't an option for Portis. It's essentially a personal mandate, and Hoiberg loves seeing it, because it results in easy baskets occasionally and, more importantly, opens up secondary break options in that it can suck in a defense early and open up space for shooters.

"I've always run the floor my whole life," Portis said. "That was a big key with me, a big positive with me growing up. One of my biggest strengths was running the floor.

"That's something I try to utilize in the NBA because some bigs don't like to get back, and I can help our team get easy transition buckets just by me running. I might not get the ball, but it can lead to my teammate getting a layup."

Bulls players and coaches have been pleasantly surprised at Portis' continued quality, efficient play. One person who's not surprised?

Portis himself.

"Surprising?" Portis responded, quizzically. "I mean, I don't try to look at numbers. I try to look at wins."

3. After struggling mightily of late, Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic stepped up by scoring 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting. He also had five rebounds and a career-high seven assists.

Mirotic started the game at small forward, but he was at his more natural power forward spot in helping spark the Bulls' big fourth-quarter run. Also on the floor for much of that were E'Twaun Moore – who hadn't played in the previous five games – Butler, Doug McDermott and Portis.

It was a much-needed performance for Mirotic, everyone agreed.

"He's emotional," said Pau Gasol, referring to Mirotic being hard on himself amid struggles. "He's an emotional person, so he tries and he's trying his best to be productive.

"He needed a game like this for sure. Now let's see if we can get a little continuity. It's harder for him at the three position than it is for him to guard the four. It's more natural."

Mirotic's night included drilling a 3-pointer from the horns of the Bulls logo, a shot that was from 30-plus feet and had Butler in awe.

"If you looked at my face, I said, 'Oh, s***," Butler said. "I'm not even joking. I was like, 'Damn.' He was feeling it. I like that Niko."

4. Hoiberg is optimistic about big man Joakim Noah's progress in his recovery from his sprained left shoulder. Noah hasn't taken contact to the shoulder since injuring it in a collision on Dec. 21, but Hoiberg said he's doing "very well."

Noah will be re-evaluated Monday, and there's some hope he could be cleared to return then. The Bulls have games next Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, so it's possible he rejoins the team ahead of one of those.

"You still have to be careful with the shoulder, because it could pop out at any points," Hoiberg said.

When Noah returns, Hoiberg will have a decision to make in shuffling the rotation. He likes the Pau Gasol-Taj Gibson starting pairing, and Portis has certainly played his way into regular minutes.

"I don't know," Hoiberg said of how he'll handle the rotation. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

With Mirotic struggling of late, it'd seem logical that his role would be reduced – except that many of his minutes recently have been coming at small forward, so that might not affect the big man equation much. The Bulls haven't used Portis in any lineup this year alongside two of the Gasol-Noah-Gibson trio, per NBA.com – the bigger lineups they've used almost always include Mirotic at small forward, not someone else.

Perhaps all the big men have to sacrifice some playing time. It's also possible a trade could be coming down the line to clear up the situation and strengthen the Bulls elsewhere. Executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson has emphasized that even though this regime doesn't have a history of in-season trades, the Bulls are "looking at everything."

5. Point guard Derrick Rose missed his second straight game with right knee tendonitis and his fourth overall of the season. He got treatment throughout the day, but the Bulls want to be cautious, Hoiberg said. The plan is for Rose to travel with the team to Toronto on Saturday, then they'll re-evaluate his status before Sunday's game against the Raptors.

In other injury news, Butler was listed on the team's official injury report as having a left thigh strain, though he showed no ill effects in scoring a game-high 23 points in 34 minutes. Hoiberg didn't seem all that concerned about the injury.

"Not serious," he said. "It's something we got to manage with practice. Jimmy always wants to be out there, he always wants to get reps."

Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for CBSChicago.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.

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