Earlier, the Bulls, who had recently suffered a wave of 3 consecutive losses, played away to the Grizzlies, although the two sides were tied 20 in the first quarter, but in the second quarter they were hit by the opponent a 25-38 climax, plus in the third quarter also fell behind 27-34, and finally lost 106-119, extending the losing streak to 4 games. In the case of the core of the backcourt Lavin continued to be absent, DeRozan also suffered from the opponent's crazy bag as in the previous games, and faced the Memphis Iron Army, who averaged steals and blocks per game, which was the first in the league, this game DeRozan once again encountered an iron dilemma, the whole game he started 32 minutes, only 24 points and 5 assists in 10 of 24 shots, and the plus-16 plus and minus values were also equal to Vucevic and Kobe White, tied for the first place in the team.
Due to Lavin's knee sprain injury in the game against the Warriors, will be absent for a while, without the Bulls' second scorer who averages 24.9 points per game to help play a leading role, DeRozan has also become the focus of the defenders, in the last four games, DeRozan has only hit 29 of 70 shots, shooting as low as 41.4%, plus or minus to a dismal -60. The only game with a shooting rate of more than 50 percent was only against the Warriors on January 15, but he only had 10 shots in that game, and the Bulls eventually swallowed a 42-point defeat.
In the case of the Bulls' full staff not long ago, DeRozan trance let people see the peak of the Toronto "Dragon King", January 1 against the Pacers, January 2 against the Wizards, DeRozan contributed two consecutive back-to-back three-point kills, when the talk about him becoming an All-Star was also boiling, but after "consuming" his luck in these two games, in addition to the next game against the weak team Magic scored 29 points, after the game, DeRozan's score has never broken through the threshold of 25+.
In the recent past, with Lavin's injury, the opponent also seized the Bulls only DeRozan a stable scorer, implemented a crazy bag clip on him, and even sacrificed the "one-star four-in-one" of the Raptors to guard Curry from time to time, and DeRozan, who was not very good at three-point shooting, was basically firmly limited by his opponent in his mid-range hot zone, and he was indeed weak on the offensive end.
This wave of 4 consecutive losses, the Bulls have lost 3 games to the Nets, Warriors, Grizzlies and other popular teams, if their goal this season is to compete for the championship, the loss of these key games is indeed a bit morale-damaging. As of now, although the Bulls are still in the first place in the East with a record of 27 wins and 15 losses, the second-place Heat and they only have a 0.5 win difference, plus the Nets behind them, even the Cavaliers are menacing, considering that the next two opponents they have to face are the Cavaliers and the defending champion Bucks, the Bulls are likely to give up their top position in the Eastern Conference later.
But in general, the Bulls can be from the past to sit in the bottom of the Eastern Conference, in one fell swoop to the current Eastern leading position, it is indeed commendable, but if their goal this season is to win the championship, the Bulls' wave of 4 consecutive defeats do have to sound a wake-up call for themselves, in the case of Lavin, Ball Brother, Caruso and the recent absence, the Bulls really have to continue to dig their own lineup depth, otherwise in the playoffs, relying solely on the Big Four there to support, doomed to them will not go far!