Bulls hand Spurs second home loss

This article is cross-posted at Spurs World

Derrick Rose scored 29 points as the Chicago Bulls stayed on a roll by defeating the San Antonio Spurs 96-89 on Wednesday night in San Antonio.

Blair finished with 9 points and 9 rebounds, but the Spurs fall to the Bulls 96-89. (Photo via ESPN)

Rose shook off a scary-looking collision with Tony Parker early that kept him on the floor clutching his right knee for several minutes. However, the reigning MVP never left the game and the Bulls became just the second team to win in San Antonio this season.

Gary Neal led the Spurs with 21 points, DeJuan Blair started out strong and Tim Duncan carried his team in the third quarter, but San Antonio floundered late and had their homecoming spoiled after going 8-1 during a nine-game road trip.

Joakim Noah added 10 points and 13 rebounds for Chicago.

The Bulls have won 11 of 13 and surged ahead for first place in the Eastern Conference.

Duncan finished 18 points and 10 rebounds. He brought the Spurs back from an 11-point deficit in the third quarter after starting out rusty.

The 35 year-old future Hall of Famer scored 12 points in the third quarter and led San Antonio to a 66-65 advantage entering the fourth, while Parker struggled to keep pace with Rose.

Parker finished with 11 points on 5-of-16 shooting and had nine assists.

After scoring 32 points and sinking a crucial jumper with 19.4 seconds left to beat lowly New Orleans on Tuesday night, Rose delivered late again. He scored 13 points in the second half and hit a 9-foot bank shot with 1:46 left that put Chicago up 87-82.

Duncan quickly answered, but on the next possession Rose all but finished off the Spurs. This time it was a tough 18-footer over Duncan’s outstretched hand that put the Bulls up 89-84, and Luol Deng’s 3-pointer with 39.6 seconds left stretched the lead to six and sealed a winning start to Chicago’s three-game road swing.

Danny Green had 11 points for the Spurs, Blair added nine points and nine boards, while C.J. Watson scored 12 points,  and Deng finished with 10 points for Chicago.

The Spurs will try to bounce back on Friday night, when they host the Charlotte Bobcats.

Deng, Bulls beat Spurs

We had a good live blog/chat for the Bulls-Spurs Game provided by our friends at Project Spurs.

Unfortunately, the Bulls won the game. The Spurs had a horrible shooting night beyond the arc, and so did the Bulls.

So why did we loose the game? I hate to say this, but the Bulls simply outplayed and outhustled the Spurs.

The Bulls had the advantage in almost all statistical category that counts, Rebounds: 52-44, Assists: 20-15, blocks 9-5.


We didn't play good D and Tim Duncan was the only bright spot for the Spurs. Scoring 28 points, grabbing 16 boards with 3 blocks, 2 steals and 2 dimes. Manu added 12. No other Spurs reached double figures. A complete turn around after a great game against the Hornets.

While the Bulls had a balanced scoring night, they had six players in double figures. Luol Deng had 17, Hinrich with 14 and Derrick Rose had 13 points and 7 assists. Joakim Noah had a double-double adding 10 points and 10 rebounds.

It would be nice had the Spurs won the game. But it's still early in the season, Bonner and Finley in the starting lineup still bothers me (with all due respects).

I think it's a great learning experience for the team. It's a fine example that basketball is a team game. You can't win alone with talent, everything else needs to fit into place.

Tonight, the Spurs didn't play good team basketball; they also need to work on their defense. I expect the Spurs win their next game against the Kings.

After that, they will have a long break; enough for them to make the necessary adjustments to make the team better.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS: