Winning in Memphis

The Bulls were playing the second of a back-to-back on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies, one of the hottest teams in the league.  Never mind that the Grizzlies were less than 48 hours removed from a triple-overtime thriller in San Antonio.  Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson weren't available, so there wasn't that much reason to think a miracle was in the works.  Yet somehow, the Bulls had their biggest win of the season 103-97.

By the second quarter, the Bulls were getting key contributions from Jimmy Butler, Nikola Mirotic and Aaron Brooks.  More on those in a bit, but the Bulls had Memphis on the ropes in the third quarter and couldn't go for the kill like they surely wanted to.  That meant a close fourth in which the Grizzlies constantly threatened to steal the lead that had eluded them most of the night.  They got hot enough to pull to within two with 13.8 seconds left, but E'twaun Moore (yeah, him) and Butler followed with successful trips to the free-throw line and that was all she wrote.

Just one night after burning the Knicks for a career-high 35 points, Butler led all scorers with 31 to become the first Bull with back-to-back 30 point performances since Rose in January 2012.  It was Mirotic's turn to have a career-high night with 27, 18 of which came from perfect shooting behind the three-point line.  Brooks had 17 in the latest offensive onslaught by a backup point guard in Tom Thibodeau's system.  Joakim Noah chipped in 10 and achieved a double-double with a game-high 13 rebounds.

There are wins and then are wins that show the best teams who you are.  This was exactly that.  People knew who the Bulls were going into this one, but to go on the road without your top player and top bench player and eek out a close win says they'll be ready to play no matter who's on the court.  Few teams in this league have that luxury.  We'll see how far they can go with the talent they have because in the NBA, talent is everything.

We always like to say the Bulls have a deep bench, but in the past, it's been inconsistent when it's mattered the most.  Hopefully, this season's bench is the exception and not the rule.  Mirotic, Brooks, Gibson and everyone else is letting teams know that any holes can simply be plugged by players who will do the job anyway.  These Bulls are that good.

The Central Division leaders will take the rest of the weekend off and face the Toronto Raptors Monday.  There was a close game the last time these teams met, but the Bulls pulled it out.  With luck, the same result will happen, but with a home crowd watching this time.