Mar 6, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard (2) moves the ball against the defense of Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng (9) during the second half at the AT
Wednesday night the Chicago Bulls were in San Antonio facing the Tony Parker-less spurs; however that did not slow San Antonio down what so ever. The Spurs held the Bulls to just 15 points in the fourth quarter, securing their 101-83 win. Kirk Hinrich, Taj Gibson, and Rip Hamilton were all sidelined last night; as was Derrick Rose, despite rumors saying he was returning Wednesday night, Rose wasn’t even watching the game on the bench. He made his rare appearance Sunday night, gracing the bench with his presence in Indiana
For San Antonio; Ginobli and Duncan lead all scores with 18 points a piece, Spliter contributed 13 of his own, and Kawhi Leonard scored 14 and grabbed 7 off the glass.
For Chicago: Belinelli lead all scores with 21, he also dished out 7 assists. Boozer scored 10 and grabbed 8 boards. Noah had an off night offensively; he scored just 8 points however, his rebounding never skipped a beat Jo grabbed 13 rebounds. Marquis Teague shined last night he scored 11 off the bench and he nailed his first three career NBA three pointers.
The first quarter was a slow start for the Bulls, it seemed like they could not buy a basket, they started off 3-15. Marco Belinelli shifted the momentum with a long ranged three; guiding the Bulls to answer back with an 8-0 run, ending the first quarter on top 23-20.
Second quarter: The Bulls once had a comfortable 11 point lead over the Spurs, but you know the San Antonio Spurs; they cool off let you bask in your moment, but once they find the slightest sign of weakness they make you pay for it. Hence the Spurs cut the Bulls’ 11 point deficit to just 5, trailing Chicago 52-47 at halftime.
Third quarter: The Bulls stayed in the game; battling the Spurs in a series of back and forth lead changes. Belinelli hit a 26 foot three pointer, followed by two consecutive missed shot attempts by Nate Robinson. Robinson struggled finding his shot all night he was 3-13, putting up just 7 points.
Fourth quarter: For Bulls fans it was a nightmare of sorts to process how their team went from controlling the tempo of the game to loosing by 17 points. The Bulls suffered from cold shooting and the Spurs were having it their way.
The Bulls are struggling without any depth in the point guard position. Obviously Rose has extremely big shoes to fill and we can’t expect any player to just come off the bench and match his explosiveness floater by floater, and assist by assist; however the closest thing to a true point guard the Bulls have is Kirk Hinrich. Hinrich isn’t exactly perfect on the offensive end but he gets his teammates involved and his defense is impeccable. The Bulls are at a loss, they are so used to feeding off of Rose’s playmaking and his abillity to close games out down the stretch. While we remain patient, anticipating a Jordan-esque return; the Bulls have got to come to terms with reality and figure out what they can do with the tools they have and quickly. There are just 22 Bulls games left this season, and then the playoffs will be here.
The Utah Jazz face the Bulls on Friday night at the United Center.