The bench led the way as the Memphis Grizzlies blew out the Milwaukee Bucks 103-83 at FedExForum on Thursday evening.
The Grizzlies’ reserves outscored Milwaukee’s 49-23 on the game, and 30-21 in the second half. Memphis moved to a season-high seven games above .500 (27-20), while the Bucks dropped to 20-28 for their 2015-16 campaign.
Jeff Green followed his season-high scoring performance against the Orlando Magic on Monday with a 21-point outing off the bench against the Bucks on 9-of-15 shooting (60.0 percent), and 3-of-6 on three pointers (50.0 percent). Matt Barnes played a pivotal role in putting Milwaukee away with 13 points, including four three pointers. All of those came on his first four attempts of the fourth quarter to keep the Grizz at an arm’s length. The final of his treys gave the team its largest lead of 25 at 98-73 with 5:29 to play.
Mario Chalmers came off the bench to lead the team with 10 assists to go along with his seven points and four rebounds. He and starting point Mike Conley combined for 19 assists to only three turnovers. As a team, Memphis had 28 assists. Conley finished the game tied with Marc Gasol for the highest +/- with a plus-17.
Gasol paced the Memphis starters with 15 points, while Courtney Lee and Tony Allen were the others to finish in double-digits with 13 apiece. Gasol led the way with eight rebounds.
Center Greg Monroe tied Jeff Green for the game-high with 21 points, shooting at an 8-of-13 clip (61.5 percent). He finished with seven rebounds and two assists, but also added five turnovers.
The Grizzlies defense frustrated athletic small forward Giannis Antetokounmpo all night, holding him to 2-of-10 shooting (20.0 percent) and only seven points.
The Bucks outscored the Grizzlies in the first quarter, taking a 27-23 lead into the second frame. But Memphis took over from there with a big second quarter. The defense held Milwaukee to 14 points on 6-of-21 shooting (28.6 percent), while the offense shot 11-of-24 (45.8 percent) and scored 27 points to hold a 50-41 advantage as the team entered the break.
The Grizz continued to build that lead early in the third quarter, opening with an 11-2 run over the first 3:02 of the second half to take an 18-point lead 61-43. The Bucks were able to get within nine 65-56 with 4:09 remaining in the third frame, but a quick three-pointer from Green put Memphis back up 12.
Memphis is back in action at home on Saturday evening, welcoming the Sacramento Kings to the Bluff City for the first time this season. Memphis won the earlier meeting 103-89 in Sacramento. If not at the game, fans can catch the action on the radio with 92.9 FM ESPN, or on television on FOX Sports Southeast.
Key Stat of the Night
- Memphis shot 10-of-28 (.357) from beyond the arc tonight, while Milwaukee shot 1-of-16 (.063)… The Grizzlies are 8-1 this season when making more three-point shots than their opponent.
Key Run of the Night
- Leading 48-41 with 2:36 remaining in the second quarter, the Grizzlies used an 8-0 run bridging the first and second halves to take the first double-digit lead for either team in the game, 56-41, with 10:41 left in the third quarter… The Bucks were only able to pull within single digits one time, 65-56, for the rest of the game.
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Player Notes
- Mario Chalmers (10 assists) and Mike Conley (nine assists) combined for a total 19 assists on the night with only three turnovers.
- Marc Gasol finished the game with 15 points, pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, dished out four assists and swiped four steals.
- From the second unit, Jeff Green notched a team-high 21 points and grabbed five rebounds during tonight’s contest… He is averaging 25.5 points over his last two games both of which coming from the bench.
- Matt Barnes notched 13 points and four rebounds and finished +11 in +/- from the second unit… Memphis is undefeated when (20-0) when Barnes finishes with a positive +/- rating.
- Tony Allen contributed 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
- Greg Monroe tallied a team-high 21 points and pulled down seven rebounds with two assists… He has double-digit scoring in 40 games this season.
- Khris Middleton notched 15 points, five rebounds and handed out six assists… He has scored in double figures in 43 of 48 games this season and is averaging 5.2 assists in the month of January.
Next Home Game
The Grizzlies homestand concludes on Saturday, January 30 as the team takes on the Sacramento Kings at 7pm. Saturday will be NBA Fit Night and the first 5,000 fans will receive a Methodist Pedometer.