Bulls pick good night to lose and the right team to lose to in Portland

Coach and front office can’t always be philosophically aligned.

Thursday was the latest reminder of that.

In the green corner were executive vice president Arturas Karnisovas and sidekick/general manager Marc Eversley, knowing all too well that Trail Blazers success means Bulls success. The Bulls hold Portland’s lottery-protected first-round pick, but only if the Blazers make the playoffs. Otherwise, it carries over for another year through 2028.

In the red corner was the coach from Rockville Centre, New York, who continues spending long nights in the office trying to figure out how he can help will this mishmash of a roster to a victory. Billy Donovan doesn’t know any other way.

Something had to give.

For the 11th consecutive time, it was Donovan and the roster he has been given.

As a result of another high-turnover game — 20 in this one — the Bulls (24-36) stumbled to the worst month in franchise history with an 0-11 February, losing 121-112.

The Bulls got 20 points from Matas Buzelis, but even he wasn’t great on a 6-for-16 shooting night.

Not that Karnisovas & Co. should have minded much. Portland’s win kept the Blazers in the No. 9 spot for the play-in, still trying to close in on the No. 8 Warriors.

And while Donovan wasn’t looking to offer a helping hand in that, he also wasn’t oblivious to the entire situation, especially with the prospect of adding a second first-round pick in a loaded class.

“The discussions I had with them when the trade deadline was finalized was, ‘Nothing has changed, try and get these guys to play to the best of their ability; we know it’s going to be somewhat challenging with seven new players,’ ’’ Donovan said. “Even talking to ownership, it’s been, ‘Hey, go out there and do your very best.’ There has been no indication from ownership or the front office of, ‘Hey, listen, if we finish here, here or here’ or ‘Listen, don’t worry about playing these guys; just play these guys.’ There’s been none of that at all.

“Philosophically, I get the dynamics once June, whatever date that draft date is, I get how that impacts all of that. It’s not like I’m sitting over there saying, ‘Well, it’s a close game right now, let’s sit Josh [Giddey] and Tre [Jones] and Jalen [Smith].’ There has not been that. And I think if I did do that, they would say, ‘Listen, you need to put the best guys out there.’ ’’

It’s a nice idea for Donovan to hold on to, but with the pressure the front office is starting to feel, it’s not in its best interests to play the “best guys” at this point. It made sure of that by trading some of the team’s better guys.

If Donovan needed a reminder of that, it came in the last minutes after a dunk by Leonard Miller cut the deficit to three with 3:37 left. Rather than build off that and continue the rally, the Bulls’ defense fell apart. Donovan’s squad was outscored 13-7 to close the game out.

It’s the third-longest losing streak in franchise history.

“We’re not making excuses; we don’t think we’re 11-game-losing-streak bad,” forward Isaac Okoro said. “At this point, we just have to come to the game focused and do the little things right. Blocking out, not turning the ball over, not letting them get second-chance points. Just doing the little things, and we can win games.”