The Bulls were ready to start tonight’s game, and they took advantage of the Spurs lackadaisical defense in the first half to lead by as much as 22 points late in the second quarter. The Spurs made a little surge just before the half to cut the lead to 14, and came out in the second half en fuego after what had to be a torrid tongue lashing from Coach Mitch Johnson. The Bulls lost Caleb Wilson in the second half and their shooting fell to Earth after the unreal first half marksmanship, and the Spurs pulled
out a tough win to finish out their four game road trip undefeated and win their 10th game in a row. Victor Wembanyama was great as usual, but they got some good contributions for De’Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper, and some nice bench contributions from Keldon Johnson and Carter Bryant.
They return to the Frost Bank Center on Friday to face the Golden State Warriors in a battle to take control of their group and make a step toward the knockout rounds and a possible trip to the Hinkle Field House for the Cup finals.
Observations:
- I like the road black uniforms. The visiting team wearing light colored jerseys is an abomination.
- Jalen Smith hit his first two three-point shots which was unexpected, but Fox matched him by hitting a pair. De’Aaron had 11 of the Spurs’ first 19, and Smith had 10 or the Bulls’ first 17.
- The Bulls didn’t know that they were supposed to be an easy out and took a 13 point lead late in the first quarter as they got to all of the loose balls and played sharper than the visitors, leading 41-29 after the first quarter, shooting an impossibly hot 85%. The Spurs’ slow rotations on defense definitely helped that stat to happen.
- The Bulls run continued into the second quarter as they extended the lead to 18. The Spurs came back in the second quarter with better offense, but it was blunted a bit by the Bulls continuing to shoot bullseye after bullseye. The Spurs couldn’t get rebounds, because if there are no missed shot, it reduces your opportunities for a carom.
- The Silver and Black got up off the canvas a little towards the end of the second quarter, cutting the Chicago lead to 14 and trailing 56 to 70 at the half. A missed triple from Harper could have cut it to 11 at the buzzer, but it missed.
- There’s this whole narrative about ‘TRAP’2 games, but I don’t think that’s fair to a team like the Bulls who put in the work and put together one of their best efforts of the season, in the first half at least. The Spurs are expected to win, but they should also know that wherever they go, they are going to see a team’s best effort, and there are no games that you can take for granted.
- The Spurs started off the second half on fire, scoring the first seven to cut the home lead in half in the first two minutes, leading to an early Splitter timeout. It didn’t help, as the Spurs tied up the game four minutes into the quarter.
- Josh Giddey made a business decision at least twice when he was defending a fast break, just ducking out of the way as the Spurs had the numerical advantage.
- Missed free throws are getting to be a problem for San Antonio, and it could cost them some games later in the season if they don’t clean it up.
- Caleb Wilson had to leave in the second half with an apparent hand injury, really bad news for Chicago.
- The Spurs led 90-89 after three quarters, getting all the way back from the first half deficit, but still not creating a comfortable margin.
- The Spurs had a quick 11-2 start to the fourth quarter, getting their first double digit lead of the game 101-91 with just under 10 minutes left in the game.
- Keldon Johnson had himself a game tonight. He only scored 10 points, but he was key in the third quarter comeback as his energy brought the Spurs back into the game.
- Carter Bryant had one of his better games of the season, making some key plays in the fourth quarter to ice the win.
- The Spurs put in their garbage time squad a little early and the Bulls made it slightly interesting as time ran out but were always two scores away from tying it up as the Spurs won 124-119.
- Perhaps Mitch Johnson lit the match.
- Insert Admiral Ackbar GIF here.
The Spurs are headed back home tonight and will play the Golden State Warriors on Friday night in their second NBA Cup game of the season. The Warriors are enjoying a bit of a renaissance lately, with the ageless Steph Curry being joined by super rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, and they should be the toughest test for the Silver and Black since the first two games of the season against OKC and Houston. The winner of Friday’s contest will take sole possession of first place in West Group C, since all of the other teams will have at least one loss, which gives them an inside track to winning the group and advancing to the knockout rounds in December. The players are on record of wanting to get the prestige and extra money of a Cup championship this season after losing in the NBA Cup finals to an upstart team called the Knicks, and a win on Friday would be a big step in the right direction.
