Chicago Bulls hold on to beat the Grizzlies at home

In a battle of two tanking teams, the Chicago Bulls came out on top, handing Memphis their 15th straight loss.

The Chicago Bulls played well from the start, building a 21 point lead. Even though the Grizzlies are the worst team in the league, it was nice to see the Bulls come out hard, attack the opponent and build an early lead – something we haven’t been seeing much of lately.

But just when it looked like the Bulls were going to put together a nice blowout win at home – then came the comeback.

Former PAC-12 star Dillon Brooks led the Grizzlies to a furious comeback cutting the deficit from 21 points to one.

This seemed to spark some sort of fire under Kris Dunn, however, as he played aggressive making a few nice layups and free throws down the stretch. He also had a few sloppy turnovers, but eh, who doesn’t?

Brooks led the Grizzlies with 29 points including 5 threes but it wasn’t enough. The Bulls ended up holding on to win 119-110.

The Chicago Bulls young core played well. 

All three of the Bulls’ young guns played extremely well throughout the night – each scoring more than 20 points.

Lauri Markkanen led the way with 22 points on 8-14 shooting. He looked sharp and aggressive, especially through the first three quarters. Here is one of his many big dunks from the game.

Zach LaVine had 21 points on 8-14 shooting to go along with 5 assists. He also had one of his patented “look at me, I can float” tomahawk dunks!

Kris Dunn finished the game with 21 points on 6-11 shooting to go along with 9 assists and 3 steals. Dunn was the one that seemed to be controlling the game and getting everyone involved. Besides the aforementioned sloppy turnovers, he looked really good tonight. Check out some of his highlights here:

He and Markkanen also attempted to bring out the Showtime Bulls on this fast break (this is fun to watch on repeat).

David Nwaba was the unsung hero tonight, though. He didn’t fill up the stat sheet but he showed a lot of hustle late and even had a nice backdoor cut for an and-1 dunk coming off of an underrated find by Kris Dunn.

It’s not good that the Bulls let a team as miserable as the Grizzlies come back from down 21 points to make it competitive at the end, but the poise the young guys showed is a great sign. When the Grizzlies went on their run, they didn’t get rattled. They stayed calm and executed.

Anytime LaVine, Markkanen, and Dunn combine for 60+ points, the Bulls will be in good shape.

This is the kind of game that would have been a great loss for the tank, but for the future culture of this ball club, this was a must win. You just can’t lose to this Grizzlies team at home.

Next: Anthony Davis is hurting the Chicago Bulls draft position

A win is a win – and that’s what the Bulls got.