@ CHICAGO BULLS (32-30) @ SAN ANTONIO SPURS (54-10) Game 63, Road Game 31 Thursday, March 10, 2016 – 7:00 PM CT AT&T Center TNT / ESPN 1000 AM BULLS VS. SPURS THIS SEASON Nov. 30 @ Chicago – W, 92-89 March 10 @ San Antonio – ALL-TIME VS SPURS 32-50 BULLS/SPURS STREAKS CURRENT STREAK..........1 Win HOME STREAK...............2 Wins ROAD STREAK............... 1 Loss Game Notes Chicago Bulls (32-30) Home 21-11 Road 11-19 Bulls Preseason Averages: PPG: 101.6 (Opp: 102.6) RPG: 47.6 (Opp: 46.7) APG: 22.5 (Opp: 22.4) SPG: 5.92 (Opp: 8.11) BPG: 5.71 (Opp: 5.79) FG%: .438 (Opp: .434) FT%: .780 (Opp: .724) 3p%: .365 (Opp: .331) Probable Bulls starters Derrick Rose - PG - E'Twaun Moore - SG - Mike Dunleavy - SF - Taj Gibson - PF - Pau Gasol - C - Bulls Regular Season Stats Leaders Points: Butler 22.4, Gasol 17.0 Rebounds: Gasol 11.1, Noah 8.8 Assists: Rose 4.9, Butler 4.3 Steals: Butler 1.67, Mirotic 0.87 Blocks: Gasol 1.98, Gibson 1.07 FG%: Gibson .514, Moore .481 FT%: Snell .893, Dunleavy .867 3FG%: Dunleavy .500, Moore .440 Regular Season Player Highs 2015/2016 Points: Butler 53 Field Goals Made: Butler 15 Field Goals Attempts: Rose 34 Free Throws Made: Butler 21 Free Throws Attempts: Butler 25 3-Point FGM: Mirotic & McDermott 5 3-Point FGA: Mirotic 9 Rebounds: Gasol 19 Off. Rebounds: Gasol, Gibson & Noah 7 Def. Rebounds: Gasol 17 Assists: Gasol 14 Blocks: Gasol 6 Steals: Butler & Portis 4 Minutes: Butler 56 Double-Double: Gasol 34 Triple-Double: Gasol 2 Injury report Joakim Noah (left shoulder) and Jimmy Butler (left knee strain) are NWT Cameron Bairstow (lower back) is OUT Bobby Portis (left eye contusion) is QUESTIONABLE Aaron Brooks (left patellar tendinitis) is PROBABLE For a full report and the latest on Bulls' injuries, check out the AthletiCo Injury Report. San Antonio Spurs (54-10) Home 30-0 Road 24-10 Probable Spurs starters T. Parker - PG D. Green - SG L. Aldridge - SF K. Leonard - PF T. Duncan - C Injury report None. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bulls lose. 35 minutes for Pau Gasol. St. Pop treats Duncan to 28. Both E'Twan Moore (36) and Magic Mike (29) get more minutes than McDermott (21). McDermott only gets 4 points on 1-4 shooting. His PER is still a sickly 9.8. Portis only gets 11 minutes. The vets are playing heavy minutes while the younger players don't get as many and are far from thriving. Bulls have the 5th worst offense in the NBA (Hoiball) and are now tied with last years team in defense efficiency (placement), and dropping by the game. The Bulls are currently not in the NBA playoffs.
Nice rundown. Still, I think I'll choose life. The offense is showing some signs of life. Over the last 10 games, they've been a very good offense in my opinion. Defensively, at least I'm starting to see some effort again. For a while there, they just didn't seem to give a shit. It would be very nice to be completely healthy (except for Noah, of course) for a while.
There's been way less iso-ball even after everyone's come back, so that's a very positive sign. To be honest, I think this game went okay even though we didn't win. Playing the Spurs on the road without your best player is tough, and I thought the Bulls were competitive until the last 3-4 minutes when they began to wilt. E'Twaun Moore is exemplifying the axiom that there are no bad NBA players, just bad situations. He really looks comfortable out there and is playing great. Probably too great for the Bulls to resign him, but oh well. If we get the 6-7 seed we'd have a decent path to the finals to play Lebron. That should be the goal right now.
