The key thing keeping the Bulls in the game was the three-pointer, as while the Spurs were a paltry 2-14 the Bulls had 6 makes from Snell, McDermott, and Mirotic.
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Pau Gasol posted a double-double to lead Chicago with 18 points and 13 rebounds, but his biggest play of the night was when he blocked Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge’s shot with 1 minute left in the fourth quarter, thwarting San Antonio’s attmept to seize the advantage.. San Antonio coach Popovich stated. Aldridge had his way with the Bulls with 21 and 12 rebounds but couldn’t find much traction late, much like both sides in terms of effectiveness on that end. While the Silver and Black held Atlanta to 42.5 percent shooting, they hit a season-high nine 3-pointers in 17 attempts (52.7) and played one of their best offensive games of the season.
The San Antonio Spurs will head to Chicago to take on the Bulls on Monday night in a matchup of two of the best teams in the National Basketball Association. His two biggest plays were off the dribble when he crossed over reserve forward David West for layups that ignited the United Center crowd. Kawhi Leonard didn’t shoot very well but was pretty fantastic otherwise, outplaying Jimmy Butler in a matchup of similarly-gamed players.
Paul Millsap scored 26 points, helping Atlanta break Oklahoma City’s four-game winning streak. Coasting along with the second-best record in the league, the Silver and Black have won five consecutive games and 11 of their last 12. It was the fourth game Brooks missed with his injury and sixth game Hinrich missed because of his hip after sitting out five earlier games due to a toe injury….
The game was decided by a first half where the Pistons built a 23-point lead over a team that went to the Western Conference finals six months ago.
At 14-3, the Spurs trail only undefeated Golden State, and they’ve won 11 of 12.
The Bulls are 10-5 this season. Whilst they still move and swing the ball better than most, they have begun breaking away from their lovely offense, and have let the talents of Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge riff as on-ball, isolation creators.
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Regrouping by way of making their free throws down the stretch, the Bulls started a stretch of nine of 10 games at home with a win they needed in the worst way, against the best possible opponent this side of Oakland, California. His energy was noticed more on the offensive end, but having him energized carried over the other end of the floor. The San Antonio Spurs are shooting 37 percent from beyond the arc and 78.6 percent from the free throw line. “They’re obviously a great team with great firepower”. The Bulls haven’t made that many changes to their roster.
