Chicago Bulls at Memphis Grizzlies: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in a Win

The Chicago Bulls headed to Memphis after a solid win against the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night. After a horrendous first quarter, a Doug McDermott explosion and clutch play from Jimmy Butler, the Bulls barely defeated the Grizzlies.

It took all four quarters, but at the end of Sunday night, the Chicago Bulls closed out against a Memphis team who is 12-3 in games with a point differential of three or less in the final 10 seconds, according to NBA Stats.

The Grizzlies won against the Rockets on Friday during a poor showing by MVP-candidate James Harden, but have found themselves positioned seventh in the West following Sunday’s loss.

After a two-game winning streak for the Bulls, they’ve landed at a .500 record once again and retained the eighth seed in a meddling Eastern Conference playoff race.

It wasn’t the prettiest of performances by either team, especially out of the gate. Both squads shot below 35 percent from the floor through the first 12 minutes. The Bulls themselves missed 16 of their first 22 attempts, scoring only 14 points. The Grizz faired only slightly better, taking a five-point advantage into the second, where Doug McDermott lit them up.

Doug’s 31 points was a game-high that kept the Bulls in the contest when Jimmy struggled early while being hounded by Tony Allen. Chicago as a whole put the ball in the basket far more efficiently in the second, scoring 38 in comparison to Memphis’ 27.

After a back-and-forth second half, with good play out of Michael Carter-Williams and Taj Gibson, Jimmy Butler closed out the Grizzlies with a series of excellent plays on both sides of the court.

But now, here are three takeaways from Chicago’s win.