Memphis Grizzlies snap Chicago Bulls' away winning streak with a 80-71 win: NBA Recap
Chicago Bulls came to Memphis having won their last 4 road games but had their away winning streak snapped by the Grizzlies, who dropped the Bulls 80-71 on Monday night.
The Grizzlies struggled early in the game, missing a few baskets and turning the ball over cheaply, before their bench took over and carried them to victory.
"The second unit, we just tried to come in and just be aggressive and bring some intensity and really share the basketball. Tonight, it was just coming my way and I was knocking down shots. ... When you see a couple go down, as
a basketball player it's kind of natural to get in that zone. I got pretty hot in the first half." said Wayne Ellington who came off the bench to add 11 points in his 20:28 minutes on the court.
Mike Conley scored the night high 17 points, Zach Randolph had another day at the double-double office with 10 points and 15 rebounds while Rudy g*y finished off with 12 points for the Grizzlies.
Carlos Boozer had a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds while Marco Belinelli had 13 points and 4 rebounds for the Bulls, who were outrebounded 39-51 by the Grizzlies.
The game had a slow start with both teams struggling to make their shots early. Conley scored one from foul line to put the Grizzlies up 7-5 before the score was tied on 7. It was all even on 9 again when Joakim Noah made a jump
shot that kicked off an 11 nil run for the Bulls that put them up 18-9. A Noah deuce put the Bulls up by 20-11 with 1:23 left in the quarter. Just like the start the end to the quarter was cold with no point added to the scorecard after that.
The Grizzlies started slashing the deficit down in the second period and were helped by some long distance shooting by Ellington and company. He tied the score on 22 with a deuce and then fired three 3-pointers in quick succession
to put the Grizzlies up by 31-28. Boozer made a jumper to make it a one point game but Memphis scored four quick points to go into the locker room leading 39-34.
"I thought the second quarter was the problem. We were outscored 28-14. We had a great first quarter, terrible second quarter” said the Bulls' coach Tom Thibodeau.
Memphis kept an upper hand over the Bulls throughout the third quarter and were leading 61-53 by the end of it.
Butler made a bank shot to make it 63-68 for the Bulls early in the final period but the Grizzlies were in no mood to let go of their advantage. They were up by 10 with 1:55 left on the regulation and cruised to victory.
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