These days the Memphis Grizzlies seem to enjoy playing from behind. Never mind that they have really been doing it all season. With their bench playing better than ever, it’s been no big deal for the starters to have their struggles.
Such was the case again on Friday as the Grizzlies welcomed the Chicago Bulls and former Memphis Tiger Derrick Rose to the Forum. Just like in their previous game against Oklahoma City, the Grizzlies spotted the Bulls a double-digit first quarter lead before rallying in the second quarter and dominating the second half of their 103-96 win.
The Grizzlies have now won three straight games and four of five, leading owner Michael Heisley to declare coach Marc Iavaroni’s job “safe”, saying he hasn’t made any evaluations yet.
The Grizzlies (8-15) played in front of their largest home crowd of the season (17,132), even if that was mostly due to the return to Memphis of former Tiger Derrick Rose as a member of the Bulls. In a classy move that undoubtedly pleased the home crowd and probably spared him a spattering of boos, Rose had the P.A. announcer designate him as being from the U of M rather than his usual hometown of Chicago. He finished the game with 12 points and 11 assists on 6-of-14 shooting.
The Grizzlies trailed by 14 points in the first quarter, but the bench quickly turned things around. Although they missed plenty of layups and short shots early in the game, a major factor in their early predicament, they recovered to outscore the Bulls 52-26 in the paint. The Grizzlies’ most impressive output came in the form of a 31-point third quarter, when they used a 15-4 run to snap a 66-66 tie and take control of the game for good. The team seems to have found a winning formula and has proven over the last few games that they can make a habit of the things they do well. That had been a problem following wins earlier in the season.
Darko Milicic turned in one of his top two or three statistical nights of the season, scoring 13 points and collecting 11 rebounds, while Mike Conley nearly put up a triple-double, finishing with nine points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Rudy Gay had the hot hand for the Grizzlies, knocking down 12-of-21 shots on his way to a game-high 29 points. Hakim Warrick had one of his best performances of the year, finishing with 21 points while three other Grizzlies scored in double figures. Ben Gordon led the Bulls with 26. The Grizzlies will continue their homestand with a Sunday game against Miami.
