There’s no doubt that Marc Gasol is the better Gasol brother these days, and it’s hard to argue about the Memphis Grizzlies being superior to the Chicago Bulls, especially with so many injuries and key players missing for the struggling Eastern conference team.
The Grizzlies came to Chicago and won 101-91, making it a second consecutive loss for the Bulls, playing with Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson. It’s also a nice little revenge for the Grizzlies, avenging their home loss to the Bulls earlier this season.
In this kind of encounter, it’s always the Gasol vs Gasol clash that everyone notices. At the moment, it’s not a fair fight. Pau Gasol might be having fun with his basketball for the first time in a couple of years and is an automatic double double almost every night, but he’s nowhere near Marc Gasol, who is a black horse candidate for the MVP award and probably the best center in the league.
The younger of the Gasol brothers scored 23 points, often when facing his older sibling on 10-of-16 from the field. Pau Gasol notched up another double double, but scored just 13 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and struggling whenever the better Gasol was guarding him.
But the Grizzlies won this game with more than just family superiority. Jeff Green scored 19 points and Zach Randolph finished with 16, while the Bulls for a second straight game struggled with turnovers, this time with 15. That is what happens when Aaron Brooks is the one running the offense. He’s not a bad player, but there’s a reason his best use comes when he gets off the bench to backup someone, not as a starter.
The Bulls looked tired and confused in the end. They did manage to grab a four point lead in the fourth, but the Grizzlies made a run for it and opened a seven point lead with 2:04 left, as the Bulls were called for a technical foul because they had six players on the court. Playing for a fourth time in five nights didn’t help either.
The Grizzlies are keeping their pace behind the Golden State Warriors, waiting for the team with the best record in the NBA to slip up and allow them to cover some more ground in hope of somehow usurping the number one spot in the conference. The Bulls? They have time before Butler and Rose (bigger question mark) come back. Their goal is not letting this become too much of a growing snow ball thing, and remain in the top 4 of the Eastern conference.