The ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO – Marc Gasol scored 19 points, Zach Randolph had 13 points and 19 rebounds, and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Bulls 85-82 in overtime on Saturday night.
Memphis scored the first six points of the extra period, Gasol’s putback making it 82-76. The Bulls cut it to 83-80 on Jimmy Butler’s layup and had a chance to tie, but Nate Robinson missed a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left.
Robinson made a layup with 6.6 seconds left, but Jerryd Bayless scored with 4.8 seconds remaining to make it 85-82. Carlos Boozer missed a 3 as time expired.
The Bulls, playing their third consecutive overtime game in four days, didn’t have enough in overtime. The Bulls played without forward Luol Deng and had to fight back from a 17-point, third-quarter deficit.
Butler, starting in place of Deng, scored a career-high 18 points and Boozer added 17 as the Bulls had a three-game winning streak snapped. The Bulls shot just 3 for 10 in overtime.
Robinson banked in a 3 with 1:33 left in regulation to give the Bulls a 75-72 lead, then Gasol scored four consecutive points to get Memphis the lead back at 75-74. Marco Belinelli split a pair of free throws to tie the game at 76 with 31.4 seconds to play. After Randolph missed an 18-footer with 4.9 seconds left, Robinson missed a 21-footer as time expired, sending the game into overtime.
After trailing by 17 early in the third quarter, the Bulls cut it to five early in the fourth quarter, but Memphis quickly answered. Tony Allen made a pair of free throws and Mike Conley had a steal and layup to make it 64-55 with 9:30 left before the Bulls rallied.
Memphis has won two straight after dropping three in a row.
Trailing 30-25 midway through the second quarter, the Grizzlies scored 13 unanswered points to take a 38-30 lead with 1:57 left in the half. Gay scored six straight points in the span.
Memphis led 44-34 at the half. Conley scored 10 points in the half and Gasol had nine. Boozer and Joakim Noah led the Bulls with 10 points apiece. The Bulls were just 5-for-18 shooting in the second quarter.
and committed six turnovers.
After Boozer’s basket opened up the third quarter, Allen capped off an 8-0 run with a dunk to extend the lead to 52-36. Gay’s jumper gave Memphis a 54-37 lead, its largest of the game.
Randolph, who missed Friday’s win over Sacramento with a sore back, played 41 minutes.
Deng, averaging a team-high 17.4 points, tried to play through a sore right hamstring in Friday’s overtime win at Boston but scored a season-low three points on 1-of-6 shooting before aggravating the injury and exiting late in the third quarter.
NOTES: The Grizzlies swept the season series. ... Deng is listed day-to-day and there are no plans for an MRI.
