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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- The worst of the West beat
the worst of the East.
Mike Bibby had 26 points and nine assists as the Vancouver
Grizzlies beat Chicago 91-84 Saturday night, sending the Bulls to
their franchise-record 14th straight loss.
The losing streak broke a 24-year-old franchise record and was
the 40th loss of the season against just six wins.
"It's difficult," said Bulls coach Tim Floyd. "You never want
to be a part of something like that. I'm a little frustrated for
our players. These guys are competing and fighting, but we've found
different ways to lose throughout the stretch. I think that goes
with teams that aren't real good and who are trying to find some
identity. It seems like you get dinged in different ways every
night."
Shareef Abdur-Rahim added 21 points and 13 rebounds, for the
Grizzlies, who won their 13th game.
Bulls rookie forward Marcus Fizer scored a career-high 26 points
off the bench on 10-of-14 shooting, while Elton Brand had 14 points
and 15 boards. Ron Mercer scored 17 for the Bulls.
"We've seen signs of it the last seven games because he's
allowing us to put him on the floor by not trying to do too much,"
said Floyd. "He's letting the game come to him a little bit. It
was very encouraging to see him get some numbers. With that will
come some confidence."
Confidence is something that doesn't come easy these days for
this once-proud franchise.
"It's very hard on us," said Fizer. "But we know we've been
working extremely hard and we know when you're in a rebuilding
phase like this team is, it's going to happen like that."
Chicago shot 1-for-19 on 3-pointers, compared to 4-for-9 for the
Grizzlies.
Second-year forward Elton Brand says the confidence is there to
start games but is lost somewhere along the way.
"We're out there and in these games. But in the fourth quarter
the confidence isn't too high because we haven't played well and
executed well lately."
Despite the accumulating losses, players believe things are
actually looking up.
"We know that three or four weeks ago we wouldn't have been
losing by five, six, seven points," said Fizer. "We would have
been losing by 20, maybe even 30 points. That's how we know we've
been going better the last couple of weeks."
The Grizzlies are a team that knows about losing streaks, but
they knew this was a must-win.
"We didn't play 48 minutes smart," said Grizzlies coach Sidney
Lowe, "but we played 48 minutes hard. I think that's why we were
able to win this ball game."
Bulls guard Bryce Drew, who finished with 11 points, sees the
silver lining, with one provision.
"We're all young," he said. "And if we don't kill each other,
hopefully we can keep getting better."
The Grizzlies led for most of the first three quarters, but
Chicago hung around and trailed 67-62 going into the final quarter.
The Bulls got no closer than three in the final quarter.
Chicago took its first and only lead at 37-35 when Brad Miller
capped a 7-0 run with a 17-foot jumper with 2:12 to go in the half.
But the Grizzlies scored the last six points of the quarter to lead
41-37 at the break.
Fizer scored 11 points off the bench in the second quarter and
led the Bulls in scoring at halftime. Bibby had 11 for Vancouver.
Vancouver led 23-16 after one behind Bibby's nine points on
4-of-5 shooting.
Game notes
Grizzlies center Bryant Reeves missed his second straight
game due to the flu. ... The Grizzlies, struggling at the gate all
year, reached out to the large Chinese community with a tribute to
the Chinese New Year and the Year of the Snake. Vancouver already
broadcasts some home games in Cantonese. ... Grizzlies guard Erick
Strickland, acquired from New York earlier in the week, was in
uniform for his second game with Vancouver but didn't get in the
game. He played 13 minutes on Friday against the Kings and scored
three points ... Vancouver won both games against the Bulls last
season, including a 25-point blowout, but Chicago leads the
all-time series 7-3.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Chicago Clubhouse
Vancouver Clubhouse
Grizzlies owner will discuss team's problems with Stern
RECAPS
Minnesota 108
Toronto 105
Denver 105
Washington 100
Detroit 88
Cleveland 81
Orlando 96
Atlanta 84
Dallas 101
Golden State 95
Milwaukee 104
Indiana 85
San Antonio 90
Houston 88
Utah 111
Seattle 91
Vancouver 91
Chicago 84
LA Clippers 90
Portland 89
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Mike Bibby Official Site
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