Grizzlies best cold-shooting Bulls
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Mike Conley had 17 points and the Memphis Grizzlies stayed hot at home with an 80-71 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Monday.
Rudy Gay and Wayne Ellington added 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Grizzlies, who improved to 10-2 at home this season. Zach Randolph recorded a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds.
"When you see a couple go down, as a basketball player, it's kind of natural to just get in that zone," Ellington remarked. "I got pretty hot in the first half."
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Carlos Boozer ended with 16 points and 13 boards for the Bulls, who had a brief two-game winning streak snapped. Marco Belinelli donated 13 points.
Trailing by two, 9-7, with 6:07 left in the first quarter, the Bulls went on a 13-2 run to end the period. Joakim Noah's jumper with 1:23 to go gave Chicago a 20-11 edge heading into the second.
However, the second frame was dominated by the Grizzlies. Ellington made a trio of 3-pointers en route to 11 straight points to give Memphis a 31-28 lead with 5:35 to go.
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The Grizzlies outscored Chicago by a 28-14 margin in the second quarter to take a 39-34 margin into the locker room.
"I thought the second quarter was the problem," Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau said. "We had a great first quarter, terrible second quarter and got outrebounded on the road."
Memphis led by as many as eight in the third stanza and held a 61-53 lead heading to the fourth.
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The Bulls got within five, 68-63, on Jimmy Butler's slam with 5:04 to play. However, the Grizzlies responded with a 9-3 spurt to make it a 77-66 contest with 58.1 seconds remaining.
Chicago never got closer than seven the rest of the way.
Game Notes
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The Grizzlies started a three-game homestand on Monday ... Luol Deng and Noah had 11 points apiece for the Bulls ... Chicago guard Kirk Hinrich returned to the lineup after missing two games with a knee injury. He had four points and five assists.