The Chicago Bulls and Memphis Grizzlies are playing live on the NBA schedule on Friday night and the matchup is from FedEx forum as two of the best teams in the league matchup and things start up at 8 pm ET as Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol matchup with Marc Gasol, Mike Conley and Zach Randolph in a brotherly love game.
The Bulls come into the game after a win against the Knicks and they now are 16-9 on the season and they are heading into the matchup with the Grizzlies looking to get a big win. The Grizz are money at home and they just snapped the winning streak for the Warriors at 16 games and that will make this even tougher for the Bulls. Gasol will matchup against his brother in this game and the two have both been putting up great numbers this season.
Jimmy Butler has been the MVP for the Bulls, as he is leading the team in scoring and is one of the league leaders in minutes played per game. Butler is developing into a star and he is the biggest reason why the Bulls can survive if they end up losing Derrick Rose to an injury. Butler comes in averaging over 20 points per game and he had 35 against the Knicks along with seven assists, while Joakim Noah had 13 rebounds.
The Bulls are one of the favorites in the east this season and their depth is one of the main reasons why they have a chance to win over the Cavaliers. The team is ranked 13th in scoring this season after being 30th last year and the defense has steadily improved after starting slow this season. The Grizzlies have Marc Gasol leading the team in scoring and he has been playing great ball and is having the best season of his career.
The Grizz look ready to take the next step, as they have Gasol, Mike Conley and Randolph as a solid Big 3 along with a strong roster around them. Randolph had 21 rebounds in the last game for the Grizzlies, a triple overtime winner against the Spurs, while the game before that saw the team win over the Warriors to snap the winning streak. Memphis had a 20 point lead in the game before coming back to win in overtime and they have been strong this season against the west, going 14-2 in those matchups.
The Grizzlies come in after the win against the Spurs and now this stretch is a real test, as they played San Antonio and now they have the Bulls and then the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday. The team is 21-4 and first in their division and across the board they are impressive, ranking in the top 10 in points allowed, scored and assists per game. The team got 26 points from Gasol and Conley added 10 assists and now they will play the first place team in the central division before a matchup with LeBron James.
Check here for the Chicago Bulls and Memphis Grizzlies live coverage.