Bulls drop a fourth-straight game, showing little fight in Memphis

Besides a dust-up involving Grizzlies star Ja Morant and Bulls big man Tony Bradley, the visiting team didn’t offer up much resistance after the first quarter.

With 5:32 left in Monday’s game, there was finally some aggressiveness from the Bulls.

Unfortunately, not the type of fight that was going to win them many games or popularity contests from around the league.

With Memphis taking advantage of the lackluster Bulls effort most of the afternoon, Grizzlies star Ja Morant was trying to split defenders and get to the rim. Bulls reserve big man Tony Bradley stuck his leg out, appearing to put a road block up around Morant’s knees, leading to the two players locking up.

Some jersey tugging, a basketball shoved into the chest, and eventually Memphis big man Steven Adams playing bouncer, physically moving Bradley backwards from his teammate, resulted in Morant and Bradley each getting technical fouls, as well as Bradley getting the flagrant foul for the attempted leg sweep.

When that’s the memorable moment for a team on an afternoon, it’s about to be a bad day at the office.

That’s what it was for the Bulls, falling 119-106 to the Grizzlies, and losing their season-high fourth-straight game.

Three of which now fall into the embarrassing category.

The latest culprit? Shaky second-quarter offensive possessions and trouble taking care of the basketball.

“I thought it was our offense,’’ coach Billy Donovan said. “I thought we kind of got bogged down with some possessions there that weren’t great, and then the other thing too is the turnovers really hurt us. When you look at their team there’s three things that significantly stand out – the first is the offensive rebounds. They get out in transition, they run really well. And when you turn the ball over and you miss shots it allows them to get out.’’

That’s how a 20-20 game after one became a laugher going into the locker room at the half.

Not only did Memphis outscore the Bulls 38-25 in that second stanza, but did it exactly the way Donovan warned his team they would: Turning Bulls misses into quick outlet passes and easy baskets.

Then factor in the Bulls had 12 turnovers in that first half that led to 13 points, and it was a recipe for disaster.

“I think just paying attention to detail,’’ guard Coby White said of the meltdown. “During that time we had a couple bad turnovers, but also a couple makes and we just didn’t get back in the second quarter. We just fell apart in transition. We didn’t get matched up.’’

There’s no questioning that the Bulls (27-15) were up against it in the finale of this short two-game road trip, having just 10 players available and still missing the likes of Zach LaVine, Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso and Javonte Green.

Not easy to deal with in taking on most teams, let alone a Memphis team that has been one of the best in the league since Thanksgiving, especially on the defensive end.

But it was essentially the same roster that took the Celtics to the brink on Saturday in Boston, having a chance to win that game at the buzzer.

Monday, they looked beaten getting off the pregame bus.

“We never lost hope,’’ White said. “We thought we could fight our way back like we did in Boston, but we just can’t have those lapses. We’re going to make mistakes, things are going to happen, but just not as many mistakes as we made.’’

DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with 24, but center Nikola Vucevic had a day to forget, going 2-for-13 and finishing with seven points.

“No matter who is out on the court, whatever we got, as long as we have five guys who play hard then we’ve got a chance to win any game,’’ White said. “We got a lot of people out, but other teams had a lot of people out earlier this year. We’re not using that as an excuse.’’

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