Postgame Storylines

Where's Noah?

When Joakim Noah left the game in the third quarter, it wasn't because of foul trouble or an injury. But Tom Thibodeau never re-inserted his durable center after that, not even when the Bulls nosed their way back into the game in the fourth quarter.

A lot is unclear at this point, but we do know that Noah wasn't injured.

Bulls PR says Noah is not hurt. It's a coach's decision that he's not playing.

— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) January 20, 2013

If it was fatigue, that's understandable. Noah averages more minutes than any center in the NBA, and he had anchored the middle for Chicago during its last two games, both of which went to overtime. Nonetheless, it's highly curious that Thibodeau would pick this game to suddenly start worrying about his center's fatigue. Noah had been effective in his 27 minutes, scoring 10 points and pulling down five rebounds.

We'll certainly find out more in the coming hours, but there's certainly something more to this situation.

A Test of Wills

As we mentioned, the Bulls were played their third overtime game in a row, and they did it without Luol Deng (out for the entire game with a hamstring injury) and Noah down the stretch.

You could certainly tell that Chicago was gassed, but Memphis was also playing the back end of a back-to-back set, so it wasn't exactly bursting with energy either.

As the clock wound down in the fourth quarter, the Bulls summoned energy from somewhere to pull even with the Grizzlies. Jimmy Butler, who played 48 minutes in place of Deng, was a huge key, as he overcame a 1-for-8 start to lead the Bulls in scoring and nearly dragged them to an improbable victory.

As both teams tired, the mistakes mounted. There were turnovers, bad shots and even a five second violation in overtime. But ultimately, Memphis outlasted the Bulls, who seemed totally spent after their fourth-quarter push.

It was exhausting just watching this thing.

Nate Robinson: Team Killer

I'm sure there are plenty of Bulls fans who will point out that Nate Robinson's banked three toward the end of regulation was the bucket that pulled the Bulls even with Memphis and helped send the game to overtime.

But good lord, was Robinson terrible in this one.

His final line of 11 points, five assists and four rebounds looks decent, but there's much more to it than that. He shot just 5-of-15 from the floor and wasted a huge number of Chicago's precious possessions down the stretch. Whether he was turning the ball over with bad passes and reckless drives or tossing up terrible shots under pressure, Robinson destroyed the Bulls in the late stages.

Unfortunately, the Bulls have virtually no backcourt scoring, which is why Robinson tends to see minutes late in games. But he clearly infuriated his disciplinarian coach in this one, and it'll be very interesting to see how much longer Thibodeau puts up with Robinson's horrendous decision-making.

Final Score: Grizzlies 85, Bulls 82

Final box score via NBA.com

Final Score: Grizzlies 85, Bulls 82

Grizzlies Leaders

Randolph: 13 points, 19 rebounds

Gasol: 19 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist

Conley: 13 points, 9 assists, 3 steals

Bulls Leaders

Boozer: 17 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists

Noah: 10 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists

Butler: 18 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists

Final Score: Grizzlies 85, Bulls 82

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Mercifully, this one ends with the Grizzlies getting a runout bucket after Robinson laid the ball up to cut the lead to one point. Chicago frantically tries to get a three to tie it as time winds down, but Robinson has his three blocked and Boozer airballs a last-second try.

Is anyone else out of breath?

Final Score: Grizzlies 85, Bulls 82

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

And Memphis gives the ball back to the Bulls with a five-second violation. Conley was the one inbounding. From a point guard, that's inexcusable.

The only thing we haven't seen in this game is a streaker.

Grizzlies 83, Bulls 80—:12 remaining in OT

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Thibodeau is going to kill Nate Robinson. He turned it over on a wild drive and then fired up an awful three after Jimmy Butler bought Chicago another possession on a re-steal.

Grizzlies 83, Bulls 80—:12 remaining in OT

Taj fouls out -- and Nazr comes in. Now I think something is wrong with Noah.

— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) January 20, 2013

Either he's hurt or he and Thibs had some words.

Grizzlies 83, Bulls 80—:36 remaining in OT

Carlos Boozer has recorded his 11th double-double in the last 12 games.

— Jeff Mangurten (@JeffGurt) January 20, 2013

Only took him 46 minutes.

Randolph misses two free throws (after Gasol missed two earlier), giving the Bulls a shot. Amazing.

Grizzlies 83, Bulls 80—:39 remaining in OT

I agree with everybody else. I'm surprised Noah is not on the floor. If he's not hurt he should be out there, in my opinion.

— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) January 20, 2013

He hasn't played at all down the stretch. Something's going on.

Grizzlies 83, Bulls 78—1:13 remaining in OT

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

Gasol is still fresh, as he's played just 29 minutes so far. His jumper makes it a six-point Memphis advantage. The Bulls may have spent their last breath in that fourth quarter run. They're just throwing possessions away now, thanks largely to Nate Robinson.

Grizzlies 82, Bulls 76—2:00 remaining in OT

Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

Gasol puts one in to give Memphis a four-point lead. These teams are completely spent, and it's starting to make a sloppy game even uglier. Every rebound is bouncing around among tired hands and ball security among the guards is dicey at best.

Grizzlies 80, Bulls 76—3:30 remaining in OT

The Bulls will play 3 straight regular season overtime games for the first time in franchise history.

— Jeff Mangurten (@JeffGurt) January 20, 2013

Noah won't be a part of this one. He's been on the bench since early in the fourth quarter. It's a mystery as to why.

Grizzlies 78, Bulls 76—4:03 remaining in OT

Bulls Leaders

Noah: 10 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists

Boozer: 17 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists

Butler: 16 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists

Grizzlies Leaders

Randolph: 10 points, 17 rebounds

Gasol: 15 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assists

Conley: 13 points, 8 assists, 3 steals

Grizzlies 76, Bulls 76—start of OT

Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Bulls end up getting an impossible shot for Robinson. Brick. OT, here we come.

Grizzlies 76, Bulls 76—end of 4th quarter

The Bulls play good D, force a Memphis miss and call timeout after securing the board. We've got 2.4 seconds for Chicago to steal this one. Otherwise Chicago's headed to its third straight overtime.

Grizzlies 76, Bulls 76—:02.4 seconds remaining in 4th quarter

Really questionable blocking call on Gasol, who was in front of a driving Belinelli. Really though, seven-footers shouldn't be trying to take charges on guards. Good for the refs on that one.

Marco hits one of two, and we're tied.

Grizzlies 76, Bulls 76—:09 remaining in 4th quarter

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And Robinson chucks up another awful shot, failing to let any other Bull touch the ball for an entire possession. That's taking the bad with the good, folks.

Thibs is livid with Robinson and he should be. But at the same time, he should know that Nate can't help himself.

Gasol scores on the other end to put Memphis back up by one.

Grizzlies 76, Bulls 75—:34 remaining in 4th quarter

Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

Nate Robinson banks in a three to give the Bulls a three-point advantage. Of course he does.

For the record, that was an absolutely atrocious shot—just awful. But it went in.

Bulls 75, Grizzlies 72—1:17 remaining in 4th quarter

Robinson hits a jumper and we're trading leads every time down now. Could Chicago be headed for its third straight overtime game?

Conley hits a free throw, misses the second and Gasol is fouled on the rebound. This is exhausting basketball, and I should know; I'm suffering from typing fatigue just writing about it.

Grizzlies 72, Bulls 72—2:03 remaining in 4th quarter

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Noah hasn't been in for a long stretch right now. He hadn't scored since the first quarter and may just be out of gas. Boozer is the one denying Gasol the ball, though, and he's been excellent.

Gay hits two free throws to give Memphis back the lead.

Grizzlies 71, Bulls 70—2:32 remaining in 4th quarter

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The Bulls are denying the entry pass to Gasol, which is totally taking Memphis out of its preferred offensive sets. Zach Randolph had to take a long jumper as the shot clock wound down.

And since this is Jimmy Butler's quarter, he hits two free throws on the other end to give the Bulls the lead. Unbelievable performance down the stretch by Butler and Chicago's D.

Bulls 70, Grizzlies 69—3:12 remaining in 4th quarter

#Bulls force back to back 24-second violations. #Defense. 69-63 Memphis with 5:00 to go. #MEMvsCHI

— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) January 20, 2013

Amazing D by the Bulls. Butler scores and then gets another steal, which leads to a Marco Belinelli three. We've got a one-point game after a 9-0 Chicago run, folks.

Grizzlies 69, Bulls 68—4:09 remaining in 4th quarter

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Memphis nurses the lead up to 10, which feels like about a 5,000-point advantage with this game's pace. The Bulls might need to pitch a shutout the rest of the way in order to win.

Grizzlies 69, Bulls 59—6:16 remaining in 4th quarter

Butler has 8pts in the 4th qtr, leading the comeback effort. #Bulls trail 64-59 with 8:30 to go. #MEMvsCHI

— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) January 20, 2013

Nate Robinson and Darrell Arthur have since traded jumpers, plus Allen has knocked in a foul shot. The points are coming fast and furious in this one. Not really, actually.

Grizzlies 67, Bulls 59—7:22 remaining in 4th quarter

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Is there a correlation between being a loose cannon and being a horrible open-court player? I'm hard pressed to think of two worse finishers on the break than Metta World Pace and Tony Allen, the latter having just conducted his fifth awkward drive of the evening.

Grizzlies 62, Bulls 55—9:41 remaining in 4th quarter