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Spurs suffer 1st road loss of season at Bulls
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THE San Antonio Spurs suffered their first road loss of the season on Thursday, as the Chicago Bulls led wire-to-wire en route to a 95-91 victory that snapped a three-game skid.
The Spurs needed just one more road win to tie the National Basketball Association record of 14 straight road victories to start a season, set by the Golden State Warriors last season.
But they failed to fire against a struggling team and coach Gregg Popovich was livid that they couldn’t deliver in front of a crowd of 21,400 at United Center Arena in Chicago.
“I don’t remember playing tonight. The guys get a lot of money to get ready to play,” said Popovich. “No Knute Rockne speeches. It is your job. If you are a plumber and you don’t do your job, then you don’t get any work. If you are a doctor and you botch operations you are not a doctor anymore.
“If you are a basketball player you come ready.”
Veteran Dwayne Wade, who left Miami in the offseason to return home to Chicago after the Heat gave up on him, led the Bulls with 19 points.
Rajon Rondo finished an assist short of a triple-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists. Jimmy Butler, who’d scored at least 20 points in his previous 15 games, added 13 — all in the second half.
Taj Gibson and Robin Lopez each had 12 for the Bulls, who led by as much as 18 points in the third quarter and fended off a strong San Antonio comeback attempt in the fourth.
“We needed a win,” said Wade. “When you’re out there playing, you’re not thinking about how this team’s on a roll on the road. You’re just thinking about getting the win.”
Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs and all scorers with 24 points, Patty Mills added 16 points and Pau Gasol had a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) in his return to Chicago after leaving via free agency in the offseason.
“Because of our talent and quality of play, we are able to make up ground. Tonight we were down (18) and were able to make up some ground, but in the end it wasn’t enough,” said Gasol.
Elsewhere on Thursday, it was: Raptors 124, Timberwolves 110; Wizards 92, Nuggets 85; Grizzlies 88, Trail Blazers 86; 76ers 99, Pelicans 88; and Warriors 106, Jazz 99.
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