Off the back of a 19-point blowout against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Chicago Bulls will be looking to bounce back when they take on the Memphis Grizzlies at the FedExForum Arena on Tuesday.
This will be the second meeting between the two teams within the space of two weeks as they renew acquaintances after the Grizzlies picked up a 124-121 victory in their pre-season clash at the United Center on October 15.
Match preview
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The Memphis Grizzlies marked their first home-court outing of the 2024-25 NBA regular season with a win as they rolled past the Orlando Magic 124-111 in a dominant display on Saturday night.
Six players finished with double figures for the Grizzlies, with Santi Almada grabbing the headlines as he dropped a team-high 22 points off the bench, shooting 75% field and knocking down 4 of 6 from 3-point range.
Having recently returned from an ankle injury, Ja Morant was limited to 25 minutes of action, but the Memphis floor general finished with a 16-point 10-assists double-double, while Scotty Pippen Jr provided a game-high 12 assists to go with 11 points.
Before that, the Grizzlies tipped off the season with a hard-earned 126-124 victory over the Utah Jazz in their opening-night clash at the Delta Center on October 24, two days before losing 128-108 against the Houston Rockets in Texas.
This impressive start to the campaign has been in keeping with their solid display in pre-season, where Taylor Jenkins's side finished with a 3-2 record, brushing aside the Dallas Mavericks, Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers while averaging 113.6 points per game.
The Memphis Grizzlies have their sights set on returning to the playoffs, having missed out last season — ending a three-year run — after finishing 13th in the Western Conference table with a disappointing 27-55 record.
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Chicago Bulls, on the other hand, were condemned to their second defeat of the new season as they were beaten 114-95 by the Oklahoma City Thunder at the United Center on Sunday.
Only three Bulls players finished with double figures, led by Zach LaVine, who knocked down 22 points, as Chicago struggled to get going in offence, shooting 34% from the field — their worst shooting display this season.
Veteran center Nikola Vucevic continues his strong start to the season, registering a third straight double-double as he notched 18 points to go with 13 rebounds, while offseason acquisition Josh Giddey tallied 14 points in 26 minutes.
Sandwiched between their two defeats this season, Billy Donovan's men shot 21-of-47 from beyond the arc in a thrilling 133-122 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, with Coby White finishing with a team-high 35 points to spoil the Bucks' home opener.
Like the Grizzlies, the Chicago Bulls missed out on the playoffs last season as they finished ninth in the Eastern Conference table to reach the play-in tournament, where they fell 113-91 against the Miami Heat at the final hurdle.
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Team News
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Having played the opening two games, John Konchar missed Sunday's win over Orlando through a foot injury and the guard will be assessed day-to-day ahead of Tuesday's clash.
Luke Kennard is yet to feature this season after sustaining a foot injury in a pre-season clash against the Indiana Pacers on October 15 and the 6ft 5ins guard is also out of contention for the Grizzlies.
Having recently recovered from a knee injury, Lonzo Ball's load management continued on Sunday as he was handed 16 minutes in the Chicago Bulls' loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
While Ball should feature in limited capacity once again, White will look to bounce back after a cold shooting night against OKC, where he went 0-9 from behind the arc and finished with nine points on 25% FG.
Memphis Grizzlies possible starting 5:
Morant, Bane, Edey, Smart, Jackson
Chicago Bulls possible starting 5:
White, Giddey, Vucevic, Williams, LaVine
We say: Memphis Grizzlies to win by 3+ points.
While Chicago Bulls will be looking to quickly put their poor offensive display against the Thunder behind them and bounce back, they go up against a solid Memphis side who have averaged the ninth-most points per game this season (119.3).
Just three points separated the sides when they faced off in pre-season two weeks ago and we anticipate another close contest on Tuesday, with the Grizzlies coming out on top once again.
Joshua Ojele
