San Antonio Spurs vs Chicago Bulls

MIAMI – Avery Bradley scored 25 points to lead Boston over Miami. The Spurs regained the lead later in the third, but Butler was determined as he got a big steal and slam dunk to get the Bulls closer at 67-64. The Spurs battled back on a layup from center Boris Diaw, two free throws by Leonard and Duncan’s jump hook with 5:30 left to cut the Bulls’ lead to 85-84 and set the stage for an exciting finish. Nikola Mirotic scored 25 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished a couple of assists while Jimmy Butler added 16 points, five rebounds and five assists with a pair of steals and blocks.

As Fred Hoiberg searches for more motion and instinctive responses to his iso-heavy offense, interestingly, San Antonio have also begun relying more on one-on-one scoring. The Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker each missed 3-point attempts in the final seconds.

Gasol rejected Aldridge on a drive with 1:06 left, and then hit one of two foul shots on the other end for a 90-89 lead. Derrick Rose and Tony Snell each chipped in 11 for Chicago (10-5), who improved to 6-1 at home. Those three combined for 33 of the Spurs’ 48 first half points and wreaked havoc on Chicago’s defense.

The Spurs shot just 2-of-14 from the three-point area in this game. He had 13 points, nine rebounds and zero turnovers against Chicago.

“We are not good offensively, and may not be until March”, San Antonio Head Coach Gregg Popovich said.

And the Spurs got a whole lot of nothing from so many other players. The Bulls are averaging 47.6 defensive rebounds per game, which is four more than league average. Over the last 96 regular season games, we’ve become accustomed to the Bulls to playing up – or down – to their competition, but one must fear how this game will unfold given the state of Chicago’s offense against a clinically brilliant defense.

Kawhi Leonard has moments in which he completely dominates games on both ends. After offseason back surgery, Bulls forward Mike Dunleavy was dealt a blow in his recovery time and is planning to see two specialists this week. This year, that defensive mentality has been clearly observable, and it has propelled the Spurs to a 14-3 record thus far.

Every year, you can expect a couple of things: Tim Duncan will be as reliable as any big man in the National Basketball Association and the San Antonio Spurs will be near the top of the Western Conference standings.

Spurs: Host the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night.