Bulls take another big step backward, lose to Grizzlies 104-90
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Every few days, the Bulls look at the schedule and figure now is the time to make a push back into the playoff race.
Then games like Monday's 104-90 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies happen and it seems more appropriate for the Bulls to compose an, "I Have Dreams of an Early Summer Vacation" speech.
A field trip to the National Civil Rights Museum on Sunday, followed by a Martin Luther King Day matinée, did nothing to inspire the Bulls. Going up against statistically the NBA's worst defense, the Bulls managed to shoot just 36.5 percent.
Only four teams have scored fewer points against the Grizzlies (12-29) this season. Even worse for the Bulls, this matchup began a stretch where seven of eight opponents had sub-.500 records.
"You see opportunity looking at you as the schedule rolls forward and then you kind of project and hope that something good will happen for your team," coach Jim Boylan said. "Something will click, the light will go on. We have not found that switch yet."
The Bulls managed to set a Memphis opponent season low for points in the first quarter (17). Still, they were doing fine until Luol Deng's follow slam brought them within 36-35 with 3:32 remaining in the first half.
That's when the Bulls fell into a dizzying display of incompetence, while the Grizzlies finished the second quarter with a 12-0 run and the visitors never recovered.
Right around that time, Boylan took both Ben Gordon (25 points) and Kirk Hinrich off the floor because they had 2 fouls each, and it backfired.
Deng and Thabo Sefolosha both missed layups during the dry spell, and Sefolosha went 0-for-2 at the foul line. On the other end, the Bulls sent the Grizzlies to the foul line six times during the 12-0 run and finished the game with a 28-14 deficit in free-throw attempts.
"In order to be successful in this league, you have to have a consistent effort level," Boylan said. "We have not had that. We need to look at ourselves and figure out a way that we can find that level and maintain it for a long stretch of games. Until we do that, we will be a hot and cold team."
The Bulls (16-24) scored the first 7 points of the third quarter to quickly pull within 48-42, then couldn't score for the next three minutes and were never again as close as 6 points.
Another highlight package came in the fourth quarter, just after the Bulls missed 5 shots on a single possession while trailing 80-69. In the next three minutes, the Grizzlies threw back-to-back alley-oops to Stromile Swift, followed by 3-pointers from Mike Miller and Juan Carlos Navarro, before Pau Gasol added another lob dunk for good measure.
"We have to go back to being a tougher team defensively," Hinrich said. "Offensively we just need to play better together. Tonight when we got behind, we got some good looks, but we were kind of rushing them. We got into desperation mode a little bit too soon tonight."
The individual Bulls seemed to play well either early or late. Hinrich and Deng scored 17 of their 25 points in the first half. Andres Nocioni went 0-for-5 from the field before intermission, then poured in 16 points in the second half.