Bulls continue to struggle against top teams in loss to Grizzlies

On the night of Feb. 26, the Chicago Bulls and second-year head coach Billy Donovan were looking to move their six-game winning streak to seven against one of the top contenders out of the Western Conference in the Memphis Grizzlies. This would be no easy feat for Donovan and the Bulls to down the likes of star point guard Ja Morant and the Grizzlies, even at the friendly confines of the United Center in Chicago.

The Bulls came into this meeting with the Grizzlies this weekend sporting a record of 39-21 through their first 60 games of the season. That was good for best in the Eastern Conference ahead of the Miami Heat.

There was obviously a lot on the line for both the Bulls and Grizzlies in this key Saturday night showdown at the United Center. The Bulls were also looking to prove that they could top one of the best teams in the NBA this season.

This team has struggled when facing some of the top teams in the NBA this season from both conferences. In fact, the Bulls hold a record of just 2-13 against the other top eight teams in terms of winning percentage in the NBA this season. And when you narrow down the list to their record against the other top five teams in the NBA this season, you get a record of 0-12.

Moreover, it was easy to see why there was so much on the line in this meeting with the Grizzlies. But Memphis got the jump on the Bulls from the very beginning of this one. The Grizzlies jumped out to a fast start in the first quarter, taking a nine-point lead after the first 12 minutes.

And while the Bulls made up a little bit of ground in the second quarter, they were still down by seven points heading into the locker room at halftime. A slow start from the star duo of forward DeMar DeRozan and shooting guard Zach LaVine didn’t help the Bulls in any way.

Center Nikola Vucevic was also a source of the struggles for the Bulls on both ends of the floor early on. Vucevic got completely bullied in this game by Grizzlies center Steven Adams. He came up with a dozen rebounds compared to a whopping 21 from Adams.

Vucevic just has to be better than that for the Bulls against top teams like the Grizzlies.

But the real story in this game was the play of Morant. The rising superstar point guard had one of the best nights of his career in the Grizzlies’ win over the Bulls on Feb. 26. We’ll touch on that more later, though.

DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, and the Chicago Bulls struggle again vs. Ja Morant and the Grizzlies

Morant had an insane third quarter against the Bulls, which would be the main reason why he would post a career-high 46 points on this night. He put up 20 points in the third quarter for the Grizzlies, which would essentially be the decider in this game. The Grizzlies topped the Bulls by a margin of seven points to stretch their lead to 14 points heading into the final quarter.

DeRozan and the Bulls put up a very spirited effort in the fourth quarter, narrowing the Grizzlies lead to just a couple of points at a few different moments late in this one. But a 13 point fourth quarter from DeRozan would go all for naught as he was ejected from the game in the final minutes due to his second technical foul of the night.

When DeRozan was ejected, the Bulls were down by just three points. Yet, his ejection gave Morant the shot at essentially three free throws, which would bring Memphis’ lead up to six with less than 10 seconds remaining in the game.

That would lead to a Grizzlies win by the final score of 116-110. This also means that the Bulls still sit at just two wins when facing the other top eight teams in the NBA this season.

The Bulls are struggling when facing teams as good as Morant and the Grizzlies. That was very evident in the fact that the Bulls just allowed Morant to put up a Grizzlies’ regular season record for points in a single game with 46.

This Bulls team really needs the likes of Vucevic and DeRozan to play with more consistency and composure in situations like this one. Whatever opinion you may have about DeRozan’s ejection, that was a really costly factor in this loss to the Grizz. And the fact of the matter concerning Vucevic is the fact that he can’t get dominated in the paint the way he did by Adams in this game. That is if the Bulls want to beat any quality teams in the postseason.

Following this loss to Morant and the Grizzlies, the Bulls are now sitting on a record of 39-22. The Heat have passed up the Bulls for the top spot in the Eastern Conference standings, as they sit with a record of 40-21. Next up for DeRozan and the Bulls is a meeting with the Heat on the road on Feb. 28.