The Chicago Bulls improved to 2-2 on the season on Monday night as they picked up a big win against the Memphis Grizzlies on the road. The Grizzlies were up big for most of the game as they led by as many as 20 at one point. Memphis led by 14 at the break, but the Bulls came out in the second half and erased the deficit to escape with a narrow win. A lot of guys stepped up, and Bulls head coach Billy Donovan was especially impressed with the bench.
Jalen Smith, Julian Phillips, Lonzo Ball and Ayo Dosunmu all had good games off the bench for the Bulls. Those four were a combined 8/13 from three and they combined for 36 points. That was huge for the Bulls as they made their comeback.
“The bench was huge in the middle of third quarter,” Billy Donovan said after the game, according to an article from NBA.com. “We (were) taking care of the basketball. I thought we generated good shots. I thought we responded and reacted a lot better in the second half (after trailing 68-54 at halftime). You're trying to make sure (of) the minutes (played). The pace of the game was really fast. Nikola and Zach played a lot of minutes in that first half. I felt like if we could get back into the game we're going to need those guys. I went with those bench guys. They really did a tremendous job. All of them played very well.”
The three-point shooting was especially good to see as that is something the Bulls have struggled with in recent years. The Bulls tied their franchise record on Monday night as they knocked down 25 threes.
“I told you we’re gonna shoot ‘em,” Lonzo Ball said. “It’s a new brand of basketball for us, but it’s been good all year. Sometimes they fall and sometimes they don’t, but we at least have to keep taking them. We’ve got a lot guards, so we feel we should break a lot of teams down. I think we did a good job of that. Hopefully we don’t make it a routine getting down by 20, but it’s nice to know when you get down you can still get up and play. …Just got to stay the course. It’s a brand new team, a lot of young guys. Sometimes the shots are not going to fall, sometimes people are going to hit tough ones. Just got to stick with it through four quarters and I feel we did that tonight. Josh is a different type of player. I’m not used to having somebody out there as a point guard who can rebound as well; him being 6-foot-8 he gets the rebound and we can get out faster. So I enjoyed it.”
With the win, the Bulls are now 2-2 on this young season as they are hoping to get off to a strong start. This first month of the season is crucial, and if Chicago can get a win streak going, it would be huge.
The Bulls will be back in action on Wednesday night at home as the Orlando Magic will be coming to town.
