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The Bulls hoping the injury list to get shorter

After Gibson went back to Chicago, Thibodeau's team were left with little choice in the key, but that should get better now that Gasol is back. He's had a good practice session yesterday, while Rose and Hinrich might be back as well

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Utah were well aware that there is not chance for them to get in the play-off this season, given the fierce competition in the West, but that doesn't mean they have no goals. One of the goals is to build young players, who make up almost the whole roster, to create the base that will be able to fight for the Conference top table in the future. Utah can be happy with what they've done so far since they've lost 7 out of the 12 games (the last two included).

Following the defeat in Oakland on Friday, Snyder's team lost the following game to Pelicans 106-94 home. They have had a bad opening for the third consecutive game, which this time resulted in them being 17 points down by half time (57-40). The second half was much better as they managed to get only 5 points down at one point, but the Pelicans soon increased the lead to cruise towards the win.

- When you open like this, you have to use a lot of energy to get back and that drains you. We got back in the game, which is great, but I wish it wasn't necessary - coach Snyder said. 

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His team allowed the opponents to score double-digits in 5 out of the last 6 games, with field goals efficiency of 48.9%. They conceded 56 points from the key, with Anthiny Davis recording 43 of those.

- We simply failed to defend the rim. We've got behind and couldn't catch up - Gordon Hayward said after leading his team with 31 points (8/16) and 8 rebounds. 

Trey Burke added 20 points (8/12), while Favor finished with 31 point and 8 rebounds.

Utah scored 103.2 points in the first five games, but the opponents have been limiting them to only 93.0 in the last 9. Luckily, they now face the injury-hit Chicago Bulls, who had to start the circus road trip without Rose and Pau Gasol. Kirk Hinrich soon joined and things took another turn for the worse when they lost not only the game in Portland (105-87) on Saturday, but Taj Gibson (12.9p, 5.9r) as well. He was sent back to Chicago for team's medical team to see how bad the ankle injury is.

- We need to keep on moving forward because the games just keep on coming. We need to keep on going and try and be better. We can only hope Taj will be okay - Joakim Noah said.

The Bulls ended their 7-game road trip with a win over the Clippers to go on and lose the following two games by 33 points combined. They haven't scored more than 88 points in any of them, recording field goal efficiency of 39.5%. The injuries reflected on the defense performances as well, resulting in Chicago's opponents ending with an average of 104.0 points after they were limiting the opponents to 97.1 points and shooting efficiency of 42.9% in the first 11 games.

Gasol has the best chance to play today after participating in a practice session yesterday, while Rose and Hinrich might not be on the team just yet. That decision will be made just before the game.