The San Antonio Spurs beat the new Chicago Bulls 120-104, surviving a threatening streak in the fourth period and ending their four-game losing streak, the season’s biggest record.
Jakob Poeltl won Silver and Black with 20 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, closely followed by 17 points from DeMar DeRozan. Nikola Vucevic led the Bulls with 21 points and nine hits.
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- Gregg Popovich achieved the 1300th victory of his career, joining Hall of Fame members Lenny Wilkens and Don Nelson as the only call center players in NBA history to achieve this trademark. Pop is not only the fastest captain to reach 1300 victories, but he is the only one to achieve this feat with a unique organization. Although the longtime San Antonio coach does not exceed Wilkens or Nelson this year, he is expected to move to the top spot of all time next season.
- The Spurs almost suffered a heart attack in their fans in the fourth period, allowing the Bulls to return to the game after leading by 35 points. Chicago and San Antonio did that same song and dance at their last meeting, with the good guys overcoming a 23-point deficit to clear the dub. Although coach Billy Donovan and company reduce the advantage to single digits, San Antonio ended up avoiding a fierce return offer.
- Patty Mills overtook two former Chicago Bulls teammates on their way to the NBA’s all-time three-point standings. San Antonio’s sixth player overtook Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich by 76th place, hitting the 1173th set of his career at the start of the final frame. Patty is on track to overtake a trio of Spurs alumni, Marco Belinelli, Hedo Turkoglu and Stephen Jackson by the end of the season.
- Devin Vassell sprained his ankle in the second half and never returned to the game. The injury came in a misstep away from the ball which ended in one and one for the Bulls. There was no update on how long this setback could keep the rookie away, although it was encouraging to see Vassell leave the court without any assistance.
- Pop used the challenge of his lone coach in the second half to undo an erroneous shot on Rudy Gay. And while it was nice to see two free throws by Denzel Valentine exchanged for a ball in the air, moments like this make me think that a successful challenge should be worth another challenge.
- The Spurs looked like a completely different team from the one that played against the Clippers on Thursday night. San Antonio was stuck on the defensive line, holding Chicago with just 20 points in the first quarter. They also maintained excellent ball movement throughout the first half, with eight assists and four players scoring at least five points. And his 33 points were three more than in the entire second half against Los Angeles.
- You may surprise me after Jakob Poeltl led the Spurs’ score against Chicago. In addition to several faults in the charity strip, the Austrian Center was virtually perfect in all other aspects of the tour. The block lobster recorded a line of statistics from Tim Duncanesque of 20 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Poeltl even hit a few last-minute free throws after Chicago became Hack-a-Shaq’s tactic.
- Zach LaVine was probably ecstatic when the Bulls acquired Nikola Vucevic on the negotiating deadline earlier this week, but his debut was anything but picturesque. Although the All-Star duo scored 39 points out of 15 out of 31 shots, their icy start put Chicago in a huge hole they were unable to overcome. It was fun to see Spurs play spoiler, but this team can be a dangerous sixth, seventh or eighth seed in the playoffs.
- I covered Austin Spurs during his passage through the G League bubble about a month ago, and Cam Reynolds was one of my favorite players on the list. The soft scoring wing at the University of Tulane showed two-way versatility for the most successful team of the regular season in the franchise’s history, and I was ecstatic when San Antonio signed a ten-day contract with Reynolds a day ago. Cam got his first points with San Antonio on a nice float, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed so that Prata and Preto decide to keep Cam for the rest of the season.
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O incentive of São Antônio return to hardwood on Monday when they start a two-game miniseries with the Sacramento Kings.