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Chicago Bulls' own QB controversy? Grant outplays Dunn in loss to Miami

Futility figures to be a Bulls' specialty this season. When they made history Sunday afternoon, at least they were in the lead.

The Bulls and Miami Heat played the third-lowest scoring first quarter in NBA history, according to Basketball-Reference.com, with the Bulls holding a 13-7 lead after the opening 12 minutes. The two teams combined to hit 6 of 43 shots from the field.

Miami picked up the pace quickly, scoring 38 points in the second quarter, and went on to post a 100-93 victory at the United Center.

For the record, the lowest-scoring first quarter in league history was Fort Wayne at Syracuse, who were knotted at 9-9 on Nov. 29, 1956. New Jersey led Portland 10-9 after one quarter on Feb. 28, 2004.

After the game, coach Fred Hoiberg praised his team for at least competing after losing the two previous games, to Utah and Golden State, by a combined 79 points.

"We shared the ball I thought as well as we have in a while," Hoiberg said. "You don't like moral victories, but I thought our guys came out and competed the right way."

Playing the rare Sunday afternoon game in the fall, the Bulls came out of this one with a good old-fashioned quarterback controversy.

Former starter Jerian Grant led the Bulls with 24 points, while Kris Dunn went 0-for-6 from the field and scored just 2 points. Grant was also the team's top scorer in the Golden State game with 21. After the game, Grant was asked if he wants to start again.

"Absolutely. As a competitor in this league, you want to be out there with the first five guys," he said. "You always want to fight for your spot back. But at the end of the day, you just want a team win."

Neither point guard has been consistent this season. Dunn arrived from Minnesota in the Jimmy Butler trade, so he's expected to be one of the key pieces in the rebuild. Dunn took over the starting point guard spot from Grant last Tuesday against the Lakers.

"Jerian had it going (Sunday). I thought he was doing a really good job being aggressive," Hoiberg said. "He was getting the ball up the floor a lot better than Kris was today.

"Kris needs to come out and be an attack player. That's who he is. That's when he's at his best. The big thing with Kris, we love him, he's had some really good moments for us, we're going to continue to start him. He's just got to go out there and make the right play."

Asked about Hoiberg's assessment in the locker room, Dunn shared a plan on how to get past his shooting slump.

"Attack harder then. I definitely respect his opinion. I'll attack harder then," Dunn said. "Defensively, I'm always bringing it. I've just got to be better offensively."

Denzel Valentine set career-highs with 13 rebounds and 7 points on Sunday, in addition to scoring 14 points. Valentine has hit 21 of 41 attempts from 3-point range over the last seven games.

Guard Goran Dragic led the Heat (10-9) with 24 points. Former Bull James Johnson scored 11 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter.

Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls

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