Bulls have no bite in loss to Grizzlies

For most of the past two months, the Bulls did just about everything right and put together a 21-10 record. Now, all of a sudden, they can't even beat tired teams in their own gym.

The Bulls should have had a big advantage in Thursday night's game because the Grizzlies played Wednesday at New Orleans, while the Bulls had the previous two days off.

All five Memphis starters played at least 39 minutes against the Bulls, but the Grizzlies still dominated the fourth quarter and rolled to a 105-96 victory at the United Center.

This was the Bulls' third straight loss and the second game in a row they couldn't take advantage of the schedule. Atlanta was playing the second leg of back-to-back games when it blew out the Bulls on Monday.

In the locker room, several Bulls sounded a warning, particularly co-captain Luol Deng.

"I really believe we've got a very good team," said Deng, who led the Bulls with 23 points. "(But) we can't play like we have a good team. I felt like that's what we did tonight. We played like we're better than Memphis. We have to play a lot harder than that."

In the first quarter, it looked like Memphis would be content to sit this one out. The Bulls (31-30) used a 15-0 run to take a large early lead, which peaked at 17 points with 4:46 left in the second quarter.

The Grizzlies finished the half on a 13-2 run, however, sending notice that the game was far from over. Even when the Bulls ran back out to a 65-55 advantage midway through the third quarter, Memphis tied it by scoring on five straight possessions.

"When we have teams up by 17, you just have to find a way to put them away," guard Derrick Rose said. "If we really want to be in the playoffs or just want to go out there and win games, it's up to us. It's not up to anybody else. We just have to go out there and see how bad we want it."

The Grizzlies did a better job than most teams of keeping Rose away from the basket. He finished with 20 points but hit 9 of 21 shots and scored just 4 points in the fourth quarter.

"I thought we could move the ball better," Deng said. "It's not time to panic, but we've got 21 games left. I think we've got to play with a lot more energy than this, especially in the second half."

Memphis (32-30) took command on a couple of disastrous defensive possessions by the Bulls after the score was tied at 90-90. Twice in a row, center Marc Gasol scored off a pick-and-roll and was fouled.

He finished a 3-point play the first time, then missed the second free throw and the rebound bounced all the way to midcourt before Rudy Gay grabbed it and scored on an easy driving lay-in.

Suddenly, the Grizzlies held a 7-point lead with 3:51 remaining and the Bulls never recovered.

The Bulls couldn't handle Memphis power forward Zach Randolph, who finished with 31 points and 18 rebounds. O.J. Mayo added 20 points for the Grizzlies, who shot 52.6 percent from the field and owned a 46-31 rebounding advantage.

In the last two games the Bulls grabbed 41 fewer rebounds than the opposition. With center Joakim Noah sidelined with a sore foot, how do they solve that issue?

"Just attack. It takes five (players)," forward Taj Gibson said. "Tonight, (rebounds) were coming out long. Teams are getting hands on a lot of basketballs and flicking them out. We can definitely have more effort."

<p class="factboxheadblack">Mike McGraw's game tracker</p>

<p class="News">Grizzlies 105, Bulls 96</p>

<p class="News"><b>A lead too small:</b> The Bulls jumped to an early 17-point lead but gave up 60 points in the second half and were horrible in the fourth quarter. They lost for the third straight game and need to recover quickly because Dallas and Utah are the next two opponents.</p>

<p class="News"><b>Oh no, Z-Bo:</b> The Bulls had no answer for all-star power forward Zach Randolph, who punished them with 31 points and 18 rebounds. Memphis finished with a 62-42 advantage in points in the paint.</p>

<p class="News"><b>Help wanted:</b> There wasn't much bench strength for the Bulls. Flip Murray missed 7 of 8 shots after walking into the locker room just an hour before tipoff. Hakim Warrick led the subs with 6 points and 5 rebounds.</p>

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