Bulls struggles against NBA’s elite continues in falling to Memphis

It’s becoming a concerning pattern for the Bulls this season.

Too many wilting moments when staring down the NBA’s elite.

That was again on full display in Saturday’s 116-110 loss to Memphis, as the Bulls (39-22) are now a combined 0-7 against the four teams in front of them, and 0-10 if Philadelphia was factored into the equation.

“We take it on as a challenge to play better against the better teams,” Bulls guard Coby White said after. “We fought back, but we just gotta have that same physicality we did in the fourth quarter, the whole entire game.”

Hard to do after digging a 17-point hole, and allowing MVP-candidate Ja Morant to drop a career-high 46 at the United Center.

“He’s a good player, obviously,” White said. “He’s really good at getting downhill. We honestly could have done a better job being more physical with him.”

While Morant had a career game, Bulls veteran DeMar DeRozan, who still finished with 31 points, watched his historic streak of eight-straight games with at least 35 points and 50% shooting from the field come to an end.

The reasons for the shaky night were easy to see for coach Billy Donovan, especially because he warned against them pregame.

First, there was the offensive rebounding.

The Grizzlies specialize on second-chance points, especially with Steven Adams patrolling the paint. And all the big man did in his first eight-plus minutes on the floor was score 13 points, grab 11 rebounds, with six of them being the offensive variety.

By the time the first half ended, the visiting team outscored the Bulls in the paint 38-22, and had 15 second-half points compared to the home team’s seven.

The other concern was the defense, as the Grizzlies entered the night 13th in the league in opponent’s field goal percentage, but was the one team that DeRozan had fits against throughout his career.

That was on full display early on, as DeRozan went 0-for-6 in the first quarter, and didn’t hit a field goal until 8:38 left in the second quarter.

As bad as that first-half execution went, however, the Bulls still went into the locker room down just seven, overcoming a 15-point deficit.

Thank White for that, as well as new-comer Tristan Thompson.

White scored eight points off the bench, while Thompson was again a spark, playing very much like his role model Dennis Rodman.

“The fact I’m able to put on a Chicago Bulls jersey and go out there and try to make Dennis proud … that’s all l’m trying to do,” Thompson said of his role.

All well and good, but Thompson wasn’t stopping the Morant takeover in the third. Heck, Rodman would have had trouble with the Memphis All-Star.

Morant put on a show, not only scoring the 20 points in the stanza, but doing so on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and 7-for-8 from the free throw line.

Finally, the Bulls woke up. It was Zach LaVine early in the fourth and then of course DeRozan late, as a 14-0 run sparked the comeback.

The Bulls cut the deficit to one, but Desmond Bane hit one of the bigger shots of the night, stepping into a three-pointer with 1:21 left to put Memphis up four.

After Nikola Vucevic split a pair of free throws, the Bulls eventually earned the stop, as LaVine made two free throws with 25.5 seconds left. The Bulls were forced to foul, putting Tyus Jones at the line with 14.9 seconds left. The guard made both, putting the Bulls back in hero time.

DeRozan tried to answer that call once again, but tried to split the double-team, got the ball swiped, and eventually tossed with a second technical.

His exit not only all but sealed the game, but ended the six-game winning streak for the Bulls.

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