Matas Buzelis ignited the Bulls' third-quarter surge, fueling their victory over the Grizzlies and extending Memphis' losing streak to four games.
The Memphis Grizzlies hung around for a half. Then Matas Buzelis made sure they didn't hang around much longer.
Buzelis finished with 29 points and four three-pointers in the third quarter alone as the Chicago Bulls pulled away for a 132-107 win Monday night at the United Center. Memphis falls to 23-44 on the season, 11-24 on the road, and has now dropped four straight.
Down 61-57 at halftime, the Grizzlies needed a strong start to the third. They didn't get one. Buzelis hit from deep at the 7:55 mark, then did it again, and again. By the time the quarter ended, Chicago was up 97-86, and the outcome was no longer in question.
Josh Giddey had 16 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists. Rob Dillingham came off the bench to score 15 on 6-of-15 shooting. The Bulls went 51.6 percent from the field and 18-of-21 at the free throw line.
The Bulls entered the night one spot behind Memphis in the draft lottery standings. Chicago won anyway, and the Grizzlies held their position at eighth-best odds for the No. 1 overall pick — a 6 percent chance, with a 26.3 percent shot at landing in the top four.
Walter Clayton Jr. led Memphis with 17 points on 7-of-13 from the floor. Cedric Coward scored 17 as well on the same shooting percentage. Jaylen Wells put up 16 on 5-of-9. The Grizzlies had contributions — just not nearly enough.
Memphis shot 45.3 percent from the field but went just 14-of-39 from three (35.9 percent) and turned the ball over 17 times. Those turnovers fed directly into Chicago's transition game, which Memphis struggled to contain all night. GG Jackson did not play due to a right foot injury.
Asked about it postgame, Iisalo was direct.
"Our transition defense and allowing guys to touch the paint wasn't at the level that we needed it to be," the Grizzlies coach said. "We need everybody to work very hard. We know we're a few guys down, and we need to work as a team — play solid defense, get the rebounds."
Spencer hit two threes in the third during a stretch that pulled Memphis within 11, but the Grizzlies couldn't build on it. Taylor Hendricks put up 11 points on 4-of-8 off the bench, though the rest of the reserve unit had little answer for what Chicago threw at them.
Neither team separated early — Memphis was up one late in the first before Chicago closed on a short run and led 29-27 at the buzzer. Seven at halftime. A blowout by the fourth.
Dallas sits one game back of Memphis in the loss column and owns the tiebreaker between the two teams after beating the Grizzlies last week. Moving up one spot in the lottery order to seventh would push Memphis's top-pick odds to 8.2 percent and its top-four chances to 34.5 percent — a meaningful difference with the NBA draft lottery set for May 10.
The schedule won't make the climb easy. Memphis has the toughest remaining strength of schedule in the league, with multiple games against Houston and Denver still to come. Dallas isn't far behind at third-toughest, setting up a close race between the two teams in the reverse standings down the stretch.
Memphis returns home to FedExForum looking to stop the slide.