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Bulls fall to Grizzlies at home

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By Sam Smith | 3.09.2015 | 9:20 p.m. CT

The Bulls Monday rallied from a 13-point fourth quarter deficit to take the lead, but then failed to get key offensive rebounds and lost 101-91 to the Memphis Grizzlies. The Bulls fell to 39-26 with their third straight loss and also 20-14 at home. The Grizzlies are 45-18. The Bulls were led by Tony Snell with 21 points and four three pointers and Nikola Mirotic off the bench with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Pau Gasol had 13 points and 11 rebounds. The Grizzlies were led by Marc Gasol with 23 points. The Bulls after falling behind 7-0 to start the game got going behind Aaron Brooks’ short jump shots to tie the game at 22 after one quarter. The second quarter featured the reserves with Vince Carter hitting from the outside for Memphis while Nikola Mirotic rallied the Bulls in fighting his way to the free throw line where he has been among the most prolific in the NBA lately. The Grizzlies led 41-39 at halftime as turnovers against plagued the Bulls with 10 in the half. The Grizzlies then pulled ahead in the third quarter as Marc Gasol won the battle with his brother Pau. Marc scored 15 third quarter points as the Grizzlies went into the fourth quarter leading 73-65.

Observations: 1. Watching the Bulls and Grizzlies is like going back through time and seeing Rochester and Ft. Wayne. They’re deliberate on offense, at least to start before the threes started falling, and thank goodness for the shot clock. 2. Of course there will be changes in the starting lineup once the actual starters return from injury. But perhaps a shakeup is in order as the Bulls again fell behind immediately to start both halves. 3. Turnovers again plagued the Bulls with 10 in the first half. A big part is they have so many good passers that they’ll often make too difficult a pass because of their confidence and it results in a turnover.