CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls followed a simple formula to complete a 44-point swing and clinch a 128-107 win over the second-best team in the Western Conference: Don’t slow down.
After trailing the Memphis Grizzlies by 23 points Sunday, the Bulls seemed set to accept a home beatdown in one of their toughest remaining matchups. But instead of rolling over, the Bulls adopted a frantic style of hands-on defense in the second half, swatting and swiping at every ball within arm’s reach.
The pace was spastic, nearly out of control, but it kept the Grizzlies from ever feeling comfortable. The Bulls forced 16 turnovers in the second half, including three consecutive plays in one 31-second stretch of the fourth quarter.
Even the video-board operators couldn’t keep up with the pace of play. As the screen showed a replay of a steal for an open-court layup by DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso snagged the ball for yet another transition basket, leaving fans to crane their necks to catch the action on the court as the entire stadium stayed on its feet.
The Bulls finished with 31 points off 18 turnovers while giving up no points off a franchise-low three turnovers, tying a record set in three prior games.
“You’ve got to find other ways to compete,” coach Billy Donovan said. “They did a really, really good job just kind of regrouping. … We’ve got to embrace the struggle right now.”
The high-octane second half was a complete shift from the start of the game. The Bulls opened 20-for-45 from the field and 5-for-16 from behind the 3-point arc, registering zero steals and only two blocks while the Grizzlies shot a scorching 13-for-25 from 3-point range.
After going on a 19-8 tear to start the second half, the Bulls scored 40 points in the third quarter to erase the deficit. Patrick Beverley turned to the crowd as the Grizzlies took a frustrated timeout midway through the quarter, tossing his arms in the air as the cheers surged to match the players’ energy.
Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 36 points, but the second-half surge came from a collective intensity. Nikola Vučević sprinted full court to smack away a shot by Desmond Bane. LaVine and Coby White tossed the ball back and forth in transition as if they were playing a pickup game after school. Patrick Williams smashed transition dunks with ferocity.
The Bulls logged nine steals and four blocks in the second half while allowing the Grizzlies only four offensive rebounds.
“We just kept playing fast,” LaVine said. “We got a couple more stops. We had a lot of conversations in here — they were shooting a lot of 3s and they were making a lot of them. If a team shoots like that the whole game, you tip your hat to them, you can’t do a lot. But we stuck with it and flipped the game.”
The Bulls completed their part of a potential scenario to clinch a spot in the play-in tournament Sunday, but the Orlando Magic’s victory over the Detroit Pistons pushed that further down the road. With four games left, the Bulls lead the Magic, Washington Wizards and Indiana Pacers by four games for 10th place in the Eastern Conference, with the Pacers playing later Sunday.
Sunday’s victory also raised the stakes for Tuesday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks, which will determine a tiebreaker for seeding in the play-in tournament.
With a win Tuesday, the Bulls would move up to the ninth seed in the East, which would allow them to host their first play-in game. But LaVine knows the Bulls have an even clearer route to a higher seed: Win out.
“It don’t matter who you play against — best team in the league or worst team in the league — every game is a must-win,” LaVine said. “You don’t have to win them all, but if we continue to play like this, it gives us a good chance.”
