@ CHICAGO BULLS (22-22) @ SAN ANTONIO SPURS (33-11) Game 45, Road Game 22 Wednesday, Jan. 29 2014 – 8:30 PM CT AT&T Center Comcast SportsNet / ESPN / ESPN 1000 AM / WRTO-AM BULLS VS. SPURS ALL-TIME ALL-TIME ................... Spurs lead 48-29 BULLS CURRENT STREAK .. 2 Losses BULLS HOME STREAK ............. 1 Loss BULLS ROAD STREAK .............. 1 Loss BULLS VS. SPURS THIS SEASON Jan. 29 @ San Antonio - March 11 @ Chicago - Game Notes Chicago Bulls (22-22) Home 13-10 Road 9-12 Bulls Season Averages: PPG: 92.8 (Opp: 92.9) RPG: 45.11 (Opp: 41.98) APG: 22.4 (Opp: 20.3) SPG: 7.16 (Opp: 8.02) BPG: 5.21 (Opp: 6.46) TO: 15.75 (Opp: 14.43) FG%: .425 (Opp: .431) FT%: .771 (Opp: .756) 3p%: .342 (Opp: .365) Probable Bulls starters DJ Augustin - PG - Jimmy Butler - SG - Mike Dunleavy - SF - Carlos Boozer - PF - Joakim Noah - C - Bulls Stats Leaders Points: Rose 15.9, Boozer 15.1 Rebounds: Noah 11.4, Boozer 8.6 Assists: Augustine 6.0, Hinrich 4.7 Steals: Butler 2.00, Augustine 1.17 Blocks: Gibson 1.48, Noah 1.31 FG%: Gibson .487, Noah .461 FT%: Augustin .891, Rose .844 3FG%: Augustin .429, Dunleavy .410 Injury report Kirk Hinrich (right hamstring) is out; Derrick Rose (right knee) is out For a full report and the latest on Bulls' injuries, check out the AthletiCo Injury Report. San Antonio Spurs (33-11) Home 17-7 Road 16-4 Probable Spurs starters Tony Parker - PG Cory Joseph- SG Marco Belinelli - SF Tim Duncan - PF Boris Diaw - C Injury report Tiago Splitter – sprained right shoulder – out Danny Green – non-displaced fracture of left second metacarpal – out Kawhi Leonard – non-displaced fracture of right fourth metacarpal – out --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hell, the Bulls could win any one of those games so I suppose they could win all 6. Of course they could lose all 6. I wonder if the Vegas boys will install the Bulls as the favorite in any of these games.
Pelicans, Kings, and Lakers are well under .500. My expectation for those games are very good chances to win.
Friedell said Noah is 50/50 for tonight. Still feeling bad He also said that Hinrich is cutting better than he has in a week, and said he is going to test it during the shoot around.
As you know, the Pels and Lakers each took the Bulls to OT here in Chicago; Pels won and Lakers lost. And I keep reading that the Kings are a team on the rise (as rationale that the Kings pick the Bulls got in the Deng trade will end up being a first rounder). The Kings have beaten the Heat, Blazers, Rockets and Suns at home this season so maybe they're not a gimme.
Can't call this anything but a quality win. Wow, great game for these scrappy Bulls. Bulls are missing their #1 and #2or#3 depending on your opinion from the start of the year. Spurs missing their #3 and #4 guy. Bulls deal with the injuries better and come out on top! Noah was the best player on the floor last night. He kind of owned Duncan, and just is playing his best ball right now. Nice to see and he should be an all-star. Bulls keep rolling. Thibs vs. Pop in an injury riddled regular season game and Thibs comes out on top. Impressive! What's Pop's NBA record without Tim Duncan?
Boozer 16/12 in 25 minutes Taj 15/2 in 26 minutes Kirk +/- of -14 for the game. How'd he manage that? Will Deng make the all-star team this year?
Everything I've read does not usually have Deng making the all-star game this year. We'll see! Kirk was awful in the 2nd quarter when he entered the game and the Spurs creeped right back into it. His 2nd half was a bit better. Boozer had a more old-school Boozer game, which was nice to see. He's so smart of offense at times, it curious how he simply can't or chooses not to play team defense well. That being said, the Bulls are a top NBA defensive unit with him so he can't be holding them back that much.
Congrats to the Bulls and I can't help but chuckle. I have no idea why, but if you take a string of upcoming games and pick the one that the "smart money" would say the Bulls should lose...they almost always seem to win it.
If the games are fixed, you'd expect this sort of thing. The house kept all the bets on the Spurs to win.
Boozer's ineptness on defense is definitely puzzling. He seems to have a strong work ethic off the court, is a good teammate, has a professional approach to the game, and plays with a high level of awareness on offense. So why are his defensive rotations so bad? He clearly doesn't have good lateral quickness on defense so I don't fault him for that, but you'd think he could be a Carl Landry/Udonis Haslem type on defense. Scrappy, willing to take charges, etc. But at this point what you see is what you get.
Jimmy Butler-led Bulls send short-handed Spurs to third straight loss The Chicago Bulls took advantage of the injury-riddled San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night. Jimmy Butler had 19 points and Carlos Boozer added 16 points and 12 rebounds and the Bulls handed the Spurs their third straight loss, 96-86. Read more http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=400489556
Eh . . . I think it's a simple problem with his foot speed. Boozer isn't long and carries a ton of weight. You combine that with the fact that he's slow as molasses and there's nothing to be done. I think it's easier for us as fans to pretend like it's an effort problem: we don't have to face the cold hard fact that he's never going to get better at it. It also doesn't help that our comparisons for Boozer's play are Taj Gibson, who may be the best defensive four in the league, and Joakim, who bring some special qualities on the defensive end. As to the Spurs game . . . Thibodeau's decision to cover Parker with Jimmy Butler was inspired. I think Thibs effectively solved the Spurs and I wouldn't be surprised if the Spurs continue to struggle against the Bulls. Parker was catching it both ways. Parker couldn't create any separation on offense and when he got caught guarding Butler on defense, JB took him straight to the paint for post opportunities. Clever, clever, clever. It helps that the Spurs bigs didn't show up, but I think that was the reason the Bulls won so convincingly.
