Following two hard-fought victories, the Spurs extended their win streak to three games following an up and down performance against Chicago Monday night.
San Antonio shot out of a cannon to start the game.
De’Aaron Fox and Harrison Barnes made back to back open threes that were generated by Wemby’s gravity, and Chicago had a hard time creating good looks. Wemby played with extra aggression too, as the coaching staff put the ball in his hands to initiate. The Frenchman scored 7 points in the first 3 minutes of the game and was afforded extra rest due to the return of Luke Kornet. With Josh Giddey sidelined, Chicago’s offense sputtered. The home team turned the ball over three times in the last few possessions of the first, allowing San Antonio to lead 34-26 after the opening frame.
Fortunes reversed in the second. Wemby sat for five straight minutes, and Fox also joined him on the bench for some of that span. The drives and rim pressure dropped off a cliff, and San Antonio missed over 10 consecutive threes after starting the game hot. Defensively, the Spurs still protected the rim, but it was Chicago’s turn to catch fire shooting, going a nice 6/9 from deep in the quarter. The home team’s ball movement and ferocious pace made it hard for San Antonio to keep up, resulting in the good guys trailing by 1 heading into the break.
Things went from bad to worse in the third. The Spurs elected to run Wemby and Kornet together, making it impossible for Chicago to score at the rim. However, this played directly into the Bulls’ hands, as they continued firing from deep. San Antonio desperately tried to match Chicago’s run and gun style and failed miserably, as they lost their own identity in the process. The Bulls built a double digit lead in the blink of an eye, looking like a modern version of the Showtime Lakers.
Down 9 going into the fourth, the Spurs refused to give up. San Antonio got back into their playbook and stopped trying to run with the Bulls. The ball was put in Wemby’s hands once again, and he responded by going on a personal 10-0 run. Chicago kept shooting threes with the Spurs continuing to play their double big lineup, but San Antonio’s guards did a better job of contesting. Offensively, the Spurs utilized Wemby’s gravity to get Kornet open dunks before the Alien took over. With two minutes to go, Wemby isoed against Nikola Vucevic on back to back possessions and drained two pull-up threes, sealing the game for the Spurs.
Game notes
- This was a weird game on many fronts. First, there were many puzzling coaching decisions. Just minutes into the game, Mitch Johnson decided to use his challenge on a goaltend against Vassell. The Spurs lost the challenge, and this could’ve potentially cost them the game if there was a crucial 50-50 whistle during crunch time. Then, he sat Wemby for more than half of the second quarter, even though he wasn’t injured or in foul trouble. To compound this, Fox also joined Wemby on the bench for some time, resulting in the Spurs’ offense getting bogged down.
- The use of Wemby on offense was strange too. He was the primary ballhandler at the start of the game, and the Spurs hit two threes immediately due to the space he created. Then we didn’t see that until crunch time when he hit the daggers over Vucevic, even though Point Wemby yielded the most efficient offense Monday night. He had 18 points in just the fourth, and finished with 38-12-5 with 5 blocks while also going a nice 6-9 from deep. Oh, and did I mention 10-10 from the line?
- It felt like Fox had a quiet night, though he still finished with 21-4-5 on 8-14 shooting. I’m taking that as a positive, since he’s brought into being another piece in the cog rather than demanding to handle the ball on every possession. I’ve been impressed with his off-ball movement too, as the Spurs have utilized it to get him a head of steam going to the basket on hand-off actions. If Wemby didn’t go on a 10-0 individual run in the fourth and look so comfortable handling the rock, I’m sure Fox would’ve been called upon to be Mr. Fourth Quarter again. He didn’t demand to have the ball during crunch time either, and he realizes that Wemby is the sun that all other players must orbit around.
- Steph finished with 11 assists tonight, and that’s his third straight game with double digit apples. More importantly, he only registered one turnover, and the Spurs seem to be fine with having him do most of the initiating even now that Fox is back. The second year guard has also gone 23/26 (88%) from the line in the last five games after starting the season 25/42 (59.5%).
- It’s hard to evaluate Kornet’s individual impact since he played most of his minutes with Wemby. Still, it made Chicago even less willing to attack the paint, and it provided the Spurs a free alley-oop target since the Bulls were preoccupied with Wemby. I’m fascinated to see more double big lineups given that the league seems to be trending back towards (functional) size.
Play of the game
The wave, the stepback, the dagger. What more can you want?
Next game: vs Warriors on Thursday
The Spurs will look to make it four in a row against a Warriors team that just got the lesser Steph C. back in their lineup.
