Bulls Lose to Spurs

As with any Greg Popovich-coached team, the Spurs beat the Bulls tonight 98-88 with strong fundamentals and a deep bench. The Bulls fell to 2-4 on the circus trip and moved the team to below .500 for the season.

The Spurs played well enough through the first three quarters that the starters could sit for most of the fourth. Tim Duncan contributed 21 points in just 29 minutes. The rest of the starters scored in the single digits and played fewer minutes than usual. The Spurs had the luxury to sit their best players because they were getting such a fantastic contribution from the bench. Manu Ginobili, in just his second game back from an ankle injury sustained in the Olympics, scored 15 points and dished out 4 assists. George Hill had another big game from the bench, following his 20-point performance against the Grizzlies on Tuesday with 19 points against the Bulls tonight.

The Bulls gave up another golden opportunity to pick up some wins on the West Coast. Tied at halftime, the Spurs went on a 16-2 run in the third quarter to seal up the game. The Bulls made some attempts at trying to narrow the score, but they failed at each turn. Emotions took over in the beginning of the fourth quarter as Andre Nocioni was called for a flagrant foul, and then was given a technical for arguing the call. Ben Gordon and Drew Gooden were the Bulls top scorers with 23 and 20 points, respectively. Unfortunately, it was not enough against an experience, teamwork focused club.

The Bulls get a break until Sunday, when they will travel to Philadelphia to play the 76ers. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.