BullsEye Blog

* Dallas defeated the Bulls on March 6 by a score of 122-116. The victory improved the Mavericks' record in the series to 20-3 since March 1998.

* Losers of eight straight games, the Bulls will be looking for their first win since February 26. Chicago has surrendered at least 100 points in 11 consecutive games, its longest such streak since March 1986.

* The Mavericks' 13-game winning streak ended with a thud when Dallas was routed by New York on Saturday, 128-94. The 34-point loss was the Mavericks' largest at home since December 1996.

* Last night Flip Murray and Hakim Warrick each produced their highest-scoring games since joining the Bulls, with 25 and 22 points, respectively.

* Jason Kidd had 15 assists and 11 rebounds against the Bulls on March 6. His career average of 9.7 assists per game versus Chicago is the highest by any active player (minimum 10 games).

* Rookie Rodrigue Beaubois is averaging 17.2 points over six games in March. He had entered the month sporting an average of 4.9 points in his first 36 games of the season.

* Memphis has won each of its last two meetings with Chicago overall and four in a row at home against them. The Grizzlies last home loss to the Bulls was back in December of 2004.

* The Grizzlies saw their three game winning streak come to an end in a 125-108 loss to Denver on Saturday. Memphis has won two of its last three home games after losing its previous eight there.

* The Bulls have dropped a season-high seven consecutive games and will be looking to avoid losing eight in a row for the first time since December 20, 2005-January 4, 2006.

* Derrick Rose missed Friday's contest due to a sprained wrist and is questionable for tonight's game. Rose is averaging 19.3 points in three career games against Memphis.

* Chicago is averaging an Eastern Conference-leading 44.4 rebounds per game this season, however, they have grabbed 37 boards or less in each of its last six contests.

* O.J. Mayo is averaging 23.5 points and shooting 56.3 percent from the field in his last two home games after averaging 13.3 points on 39.5 percent shooting in his previous three there. 

* Utah won the first meeting between these teams this season, 105-86, back on November 26. However, the Jazz have dropped four of their last five trips to Chicago, including two in a row.

* The Jazz have won eight of their last 10 road games and 21 of their last 26 games overall. Utah is averaging 118.7 points in its last three wins.

* Chicago has dropped each of its last four games after winning six of its previous seven contests. The Bulls have made the fewest three-pointers in the NBA this season (245).

* Derrick Rose is averaging 27.6 points and shooting 55.7 percent from the field over his last five games, while scoring at least 33 points on two occasions.

* Deron Williams has recorded 10 assists or more in 11 of his last 12 games.

* Mehmet Okur has scored in double figures in each of his last four games and is averaging 25.5 points over his last two contests.

* Memphis and Chicago have split their last eight meetings dating back to the 2005-06 season with the home team winning each contest.

* The Grizzlies will look to win their first back-to-back games since January 25-27. Memphis has gone 5-5 in its last 10 games (LWLWLWLWLW).

* Chicago has won four of its last five home games averaging 113.4 points per game in the process. The Bulls are 10-1 this season when scoring 100+ points at home.

* Taj Gibson is shooting 59.0 percent from the field since the All-Star break, the third highest field-goal percentage in the league (Minimum 75 FGA).

* Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph both recorded double-doubles yesterday, the two players have combined for 17 double-doubles since February 1.

* Derrick Rose has scored 221 points over his last 9 games, the fifth most in the league since February 16.

Joakim Noah's plantar fasciitis in his left foot is something he and Bulls are going to have to contend with for the remainder of the regular season, and probably into the play-offs.

The plan, as recently as last week, was to pinpoint games that the Bulls thought they would match up favorably without Noah, and hold him out of those games and save what minutes he had in him for stronger rebounding teams.    Before tonight's game, Coach Vinny Del Negro did not sound optimistic about Joakim's return, saying that it's a day-to-day condition that could improve, or not improve anytime soon.

That being said, I think the Bulls can still be a running team without Joakim.   Hakim Warrick will be a big part of that.   He's a good rebounder, he runs the floor well and he defends well.  Vinny has done a good job of trying to fill in guys for Noah, but Noah's absence does limit the rotations and Brad Miller's minutes are starting to accumulate.  

It's very unfortunate because Joakim is good guy who put in a lot of work to elevate his game and it has shown on the floor this season.

                                                                           -Neil Funk