Bulls-Spurs Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Feb 29 2012 1:32AM

The San Antonio Spurs won 12 of their last 13 games heading into the All-Star break. A lengthy stay at the AT&T Center would appear to be a good opportunity to continue that surge.

The Spurs, though, must deal with both injuries and a few potentially difficult matchups during their season-high seven-game homestand beginning with Wednesday night's game against the Chicago Bulls.

San Antonio (24-10) entered the break with a 3 1/2-game Southwest Division lead over Dallas and Houston thanks to its recent play. The Spurs, who are 13-1 this season, went 8-1 on a season-high nine-game road trip that concluded last Thursday with a 114-99 victory at Denver.

"Being at home, we don't want to take anything for granted. It doesn't mean much if you don't play competitively," coach Gregg Popovich said. "We competed well and played together. We've got to duplicate that at home."

The Spurs are not yet expected to have Manu Ginobili back from a strained left oblique that's kept him out of the past three games. Ginobili, who also missed 22 games with a broken left hand earlier this season, was limited in practice Tuesday.

Kawhi Leonard (calf tightness) might also sit out, while Gary Neal (hamstring) and Tiago Splitter (calf) will be game-time decisions, Popovich said.

T.J. Ford, though, might play for the first time since injuring his left hamstring during a Jan. 10 loss at Milwaukee. If he returns, he'd likely draw the difficult task of trying to contain Bulls All-Star Derrick Rose.

The point guard helped Chicago (28-8) survive a challenge from visiting New Orleans on Tuesday and post a third consecutive win, 99-95. Rose finished with 32 points and scored six of the game's final eight to help his team rally from a late four-point deficit.

"We definitely held it together. Other teams I guess would have folded," Rose said. "We played toward the end I think the best defense we played throughout the whole game. We rebounded the ball, made great plays on the ball. ... We gave ourselves a chance."

The win allowed the Bulls to pull within percentage points of Miami atop the Eastern Conference. It also helped them improve to 5-1 when fielding the starting lineup of Rose, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer and Richard Hamilton, who returned from a sore right thigh Tuesday.

Noah sat out the most recent matchup with the Spurs last February but Rose more than made up for his absence with a then-career high 42 points in a 109-99 victory. He matched that mark in Indiana on March 18 and scored 44 in a playoff win over Atlanta in May.

Rose scored 33 at San Antonio on Nov. 17, 2010, but it wasn't enough in Chicago's 103-94 defeat. Tony Parker, who won the All-Star skills challenge last weekend, had a team-best 21 points in that game and has averaged 22.3 on 59.2 percent shooting over his last three matchups with the Bulls.

The Spurs point guard has also averaged 23.0 points and shooting 63.8 percent in his last three home games versus Chicago.

That's helped San Antonio win 10 of its last 12 home matchups in this series. One of those losses was recent, however, as the Bulls prevailed 98-93 on Jan. 25, 2010, on the strength of 27 points from Rose.

The reigning league MVP has is averaging 34.0 points and shooting 59.0 percent in his last three games against the Spurs.

Rose scores 29 as streaking Bulls stop Spurs 96-89

By PAUL J. WEBER
Posted Mar 01 2012 12:57AM

SAN ANTONIO (AP) Derrick Rose and Tony Parker didn't see much of each other during the All-Star game last weekend, but they got close enough Wednesday night to give the Chicago Bulls a scare.

Rose, last year's NBA MVP, says his knee is fine after crashing into Parker - and the Eastern Conference leaders are still rolling along.

Shaking off a scary-looking collision with Parker in the first quarter, Rose scored 29 points and Chicago cooled off the streaking Spurs 96-89. The Bulls won for the 11th time in 13 games while becoming only the second visiting team to win in San Antonio this season.

Rose writhed on the floor for several minutes after banging knees with Parker, who stood unfazed after the impact. Bulls trainers rushed to the star's side, but Rose got up slowly and walked back to the bench. He never left the game.

"When I first hit him, there was a lot of pain in there," Rose said. "But after laying down there for a little bit, I got up and was good."

Gary Neal led the Spurs with 21 points off the bench, scoring 15 in the fourth. He sank two big 3-pointers in the quarter, one knotting the score at 75 and the second putting the Spurs within three, but San Antonio floundered late and had its homecoming spoiled after going 8-1 during the winningest nine-game road trip in NBA history.

Joakim Noah added 10 points and 13 rebounds for Chicago. Rose scored six in the fourth, including two crucial shots on back-to-back possessions in the final 2 minutes.

"It's very tough," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of trying to stop Rose. "He's a great player."

Tim Duncan had 18 points and 10 rebounds. He brought the Spurs back from an 11-point deficit in the third quarter after starting out rusty following the longest midseason break of his career. The 35-year-old wasn't at All-Star weekend for the first time but relished the rest in the compressed, lockout-shortened schedule.

Duncan scored 12 in the third while Parker - who was an All-Star but played only sparingly in Orlando on Sunday night - struggled to keep pace with Rose. Parker finished with 11 points on 5-of-16 shooting, had nine assists and stumbled through his lowest-scoring game in a month.

"I thought the whole team was rusty," Parker said. "I was rusty, too. I didn't do nothing for four days, five days."

In fact, Parker's most memorable play may have been the one that nearly took out Rose. But after getting hurt, Rose immediately proved he was OK by darting toward the basket and finishing a tough layup on the very next possession.

After scoring 32 points and sinking a crucial jumper with 19.4 seconds left to beat lowly New Orleans on Tuesday night, Rose delivered late again. He scored 13 in the second half and hit a 9-foot bank shot with 1:46 left that put Chicago up 87-82.

Duncan quickly answered, but on the next possession Rose all but finished off the Spurs. This time it was a tough 18-footer over Duncan's outstretched hand that put the Bulls up 89-84, and Luol Deng's 3-pointer with 39.6 seconds left stretched the lead to six and sealed a winning start to Chicago's three-game road swing.

"I told you, playing every point guard on the planet is fun, where I love the challenge," Rose said of his matchup with Parker. "He's a veteran point guard, knows all the moves, plays great for that team."

San Antonio has been practically invincible at home. But the Spurs, now 13-2 at the AT&T Center, aren't going anywhere soon: They'll play their next six at home as amends for spending the last month on their most successful Rodeo Road Trip ever.

Danny Green added 11 points for the Spurs. C.J. Watson scored 12 off the bench for Chicago, and Deng finished with 10.

Richard Hamilton started again for the Bulls after returning from a monthlong absence Tuesday against the Hornets. Hamilton has been bothered by a sore thigh and played just 15 minutes, scoring two points on 1-of-8 shooting.

Notes: The Spurs and Bulls won't play again this season. ... Chicago has played an NBA-high 37 games, but its schedule gets somewhat lighter in the second half. The Bulls will play their remaining 29 games over the next 57 days.

Notebook: Spurs 96, Bulls 89

Posted Thursday March 1, 2012 12:37AM

By Tim Price, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Derrick Rose enjoyed another productive night against San Antonio, leading all scorers with 29 points and helping the Chicago Bulls to a 96-89 win over the Spurs on Wednesday at AT&T Center.

Rose, who averaged 37.5 points against the Spurs last season, was only 10-of-23 from the floor including just 1-of-5 on 3-pointers. But he made all eight of his free throws while the Bulls (29-8) won their fourth straight.

The Spurs (24-11) got 18 points and 10 rebounds from Tim Duncan, and their most production from the backcourt came from the bench when Gary Neal scored 21 points in 24 minutes. Coming into the game the Spurs had won 12 of 13 and all but one home game.

QUOTABLE: "Down the stretch Chicago showed why they've won all those games. They made shots and were real solid defensively."
-- Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich.

THE STAT: Rose played 2 1/2 fewer minutes than rival point guard Tony Parker, but he walked away with the better stats and the win. Most importantly, he forced the action on offense by getting to the free throw line eight times compared to two for Parker. Parker missed 11 shots from the floor (Rose missed 13) and turned the ball over three times while scoring 11 points -- his lowest total since five against Memphis on Jan. 30.

TURNING POINT: It looked like San Antonio could roll on past the Bulls following the 24-15 third quarter when Chicago shot 6-of-24. The Spurs were up by four in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, but C.J. Watson and Ronnie Brewer came off the bench to turn it around. Watson had two steals that set up Brewer for two of his three baskets to open the final-quarter scoring for Chicago and give the Bulls the lead. Chicago shot almost 67 percent in the fourth, including 4-of-5 from Brewer.

HOT: Luol Deng is either right on with his 3-point touch or way off. He was 1-of-5 from the line the previous night against New Orleans and he was 1-of-6 from the floor with a missed 3-pointer through the first three quarters at San Antonio. But, off two pick-and-pop feeds from Rose, Deng knocked down a pair of threes in the final 4 1/2 minutes. He's shooting 40 percent from the 3-point line this season.

NOT: Richard Hamilton has had a slow return to form after missing multiple games prior to the All-Star break. This was his second game back after a thigh injury, and he went 1-of-8 from the floor in 15 1/2 minutes at San Antonio. He was 2-of-5 in almost 17 minutes the prior night against New Orleans.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Though Rose came up one point short of scoring in the 30s for the second consecutive night, Joakim Noah had a consecutive double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. It's just two games removed from his first career triple-double (13 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists against Milwaukee).

ROOKIE WATCH: Kawhi Leonard missed his first game as a pro, sitting out this one because of tightness in his left hamstring that first started giving him trouble in the last game before the All-Star break.

NOTABLE: The Spurs starting lineup of Duncan, Parker, Richard Jefferson, DeJuan Blair and Danny Green lost for the first time this season (that lineup was 7-0). The Chicago starters of Rose, Deng, Hamilton, Noah and Carlos Boozer are now 6-1. ... The Spurs had a record of 17-1 (10-0 at home) in games when they lead heading into the fourth quarter. San Antonio led the Bulls 66-65 heading into the fourth quarter on Wednesday. ... This was the first of a seven-game homestand for the Spurs. ... The Bulls won in San Antonio for only the third time in the last 13 tries. ... Neal was called for a technical foul for delay of game in the first quarter when he checked in for the first time. He was sitting and tying his shoes when he was buzzed into the game. ... The two oldest players on the court -- 35-year-old Duncan and 34-year-old Hamilton -- started the game a combined 0-of-10 from the floor (each went 0-5).

UP NEXT: For the Bulls, Friday @ Cleveland, Sunday @ Philadelphia, Monday vs. Indiana. For the Spurs, Friday vs. Charlotte, Sunday vs. Denver, Wednesday vs. New York.

• Bulls: --
• Spurs: Ginobili, Leonard

• Bulls: --
• Spurs: --

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
• Officials: #48 Scott Foster, #26 Pat Fraher, #6 Tony Brown
• Attendance: 18581
• Duration: 2:25