After hitting the buzzer beater to carry the Bulls over the Blazers, Chicago's veteran center was introspective about the moment.

PORTLAND, Ore. — With the Chicago Bulls spiraling into another clutch game, Nikola Vučević trudged to the bench, knee deep in the ongoing collapse. From two rows behind the scorer’s table, a heckler in Portland Trail Blazers maroon verbally pricked Vučević’s hide, prompting Vučević to address him before taking a seat.

The Bulls have dominated the recent series with the Heat, going 8-2 in the regular season. Coby White, who dished the assist on Vucevic's big trey in Portland after driving into the lane and drawing defenders, has scored 20-plus points in five of his past six regular-season games versus Miami.

BOTTOM LINE: The Miami Heat travel to face the Miami Heat in an NBA Cup in-season tournament group play matchup. The Bulls are 5-4 in Eastern Conference games. Chicago is 3-3 in games decided by 10 or more points. The Heat are 5-3 against conference opponents. Miami leads the Eastern Conference scoring 123.6 points per game while shooting 48.3%.

The Bulls suffered a blow in the third quarter when Smith injured his shoulder attempting to reach in against Jokić, who responded by hooking the center’s arm and tossing him to the ground to draw a foul. Smith exited and then returned to play for fewer than three minutes for the rest of the game.

Former Winston-Salem State star Javonte Cooke made his NBA debut for the Portland Trailblazers in their 122-121 loss to the Chicago Bulls.

The Bulls bench scored 66 points, not so distant from Sunday’s season-high 71. Chicago's backups outscored the Nuggets bench by 57 points.

Both the Chicago Bulls and Portland Trail Blazers may be without multiple key players in Wednesday night's matchup.