Chicago @ Memphis preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 7, 2018 ) Memphis 110, Chicago 119

The Chicago Bulls are not doing so well against teams above them in the standings of late but are not having much trouble against teams fighting for the bottom. The Bulls will try to take advantage of the worst team in the NBA and win for the fourth time in seven games when they visit the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday.

Chicago's recent run of solid play includes a 119-110 home win over the Grizzlies on March 7 and wins over Dallas and Atlanta -- two other teams fighting for draft lottery position. The Bulls put together a solid effort against a team with a winning record on Tuesday in a 112-106 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, but coach Fred Hoiberg told reporters that his team needed "to come out with more grit, more fire." The Grizzlies could use more grit and fire as they try to snap a slide that reached 18 straight with a 121-103 home loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday. "As professionals, our job is to show up every day and give our best effort," Memphis interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff told reporters. "I don't think they need to be reminded of that. Through and through, they haven't laid down yet, and I don't expect them to. They owe it to each other, to the fans, to everybody to continue to compete. Show up and compete every single night."

TV: 8 p.m. ET, WGN (Chicago), FS Southeast (Memphis)

ABOUT THE BULLS (23-44): Bulls guard Zach LaVine has been plagued by inconsistency since returning from knee surgery in mid-January and slumped to 10 points on 3-of-13 shooting on Tuesday. "It sucks to go out and not play the way you want to, but you can't dwell on it," LaVine told reporters. "I'm going to get right back in the gym, keep my head up. It's a process and I'm going to stick with it. I'm excited to get to the offseason. I didn't get one last year and that's where I really build, develop my game and get better and do things I didn't do the year before. I came in more than halfway through, so obviously (I will be) getting more continuity with the coach and the players throughout the offseason." LaVine's best game this month came against Memphis on March 7, when he scored 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting.

ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (18-49): Memphis began the season with playoff aspirations but dealt with a rash of injuries throughout the campaign and is now slogging through the longest losing streak in the NBA. "It's not time to reflect on it and pinpoint what went wrong," Grizzlies center Marc Gasol told reporters. "I don't think it's one thing that went wrong, obviously it's multiple things. But, at this point it's irrelevant completely. It's about finding enough guys to go to battle and win a game. And that, to me, is the only thing that matters right now. It's to, as bad as it sounds, it's to win a game." Gasol led the team with 17 points in Monday's loss and is averaging 17.7 on 41.7 percent shooting -- the lowest shooting percentage of his career.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Grizzlies SG Ben McLemore is averaging 14.3 points over the last four games, nearly double his season mark (7.2).

2. Bulls PF Bobby Portis averaged 20 points over the last two games after managing two points on 1-of-10 shooting in a loss on Friday.

3. Chicago rookie PF Lauri Markkanen (back) is expected to miss his second straight game.

PREDICTION: Bulls 115, Grizzlies 103