Bulls' Portis believes Durant tried to injure him

Bobby Portis believes that Kevin Durant tried to injure him on Friday night during the Chicago Bulls' 146-109 loss to the Golden State Warriors.

The two became tangled up on a screen, and Durant appeared to pull Portis’ arm.

“Yeah, that wasn’t inadvertent,” said Portis, according to Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune. “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. Everything is officiated different toward whoever it is, but if you look back at the video at the time, it was obvious.’’

Portis and Durant had a heated exchange and they were both issued technical fouls.

Portis then missed the Bulls’ matchup on Saturday against the Utah Jazz because of discomfort in his right elbow. Before the game, the veteran said he believes “everything is officiated differently towards” him because of his “incident” with Nikola Mirotic last season.

Portis broke two bones in Mirotic’s face when the two fought during a Bulls practice.

“Everybody thinks I’m this bad guy when really I’m a really good dude,” said Portis. “Image is everything, and I guess that’s what my image is.’’

Portis’ status for Chicago's game on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Lakers is unclear. The power forward has already missed 31 games in 2018-19, mostly due to knee and ankle problems.

Portis is averaging 12.9 points and 7.3 rebounds in 12 games this season.